Evaluating soil contamination with heavy metals (nickel and cadmium) and developing a management strategy in a drilling cutting dump site in Azadegan Plain, Khuzestan province

Subject Areas : environmental management

Mohammadsaeed Sarempour ¹ (‌M.Sc. Natural Resources Engineering-Environmental, Environmental Pollution, Islamic Azad University, Meybod Branch)
Azita Behbahaninia ² (Assistant Professor, Department of Environment, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch)
Hadi Zareimahmoodabadi ³ (Assistant Professor, Department of Environment, Islamic Azad University, Meybod Branch)

Received: 2016-05-21 Accepted : 2016-12-21 Published : 2018-09-23

Keywords: Cutting drilling, nickel, Cadmium, Heavy Metals,

Abstract :

Background and Objective: The environmental pollution caused by oil waste is one of the main concerns in drilling industry. Contamination has increased with the expansion of exploration and production activities, which has imposed enormous environmental challenges to the drilling industry. This study has been carried out to determine the concentration of nickel and cadmium in a drilling cutting dump site in Azadegan plain in Khuzestan province. Method: Soil samples were obtained from 13 sampling points in drill cutting dump site in Azadegan Plain, Khuzestan province to investigate soil pollution with nickel and cadmium. A-1 was selected as a background station. The rest of 12 stations were named as sample points (B2-M13) and 2 samples were obtained for each station in order to determine the concentrations of heavy metals in different depths. In this study, the Simple Random Cluster Sampling and Stratification Sampling methods were used in an area of 100*100 m2. After preparation, samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Findings: The results showed that the concentration of cadmium in the soil varied from trace amount to 3.1 mg/kg, which was below the standard limit. Moreover, the concentration of nickel varied from 0.08 to 200 mg/kg. According to the results, the concentrations of heavy metals were lower than the toxicity limits for heavy metals in natural soil. Also there was no significant deviation from EPA, WHO standards and Europe action level for soil. Nickel concentration is negligible in all surface samples. Cadmium concentrations in all samples were below the standard limits. Nickel concentration was found to be over the threshold only in two sample points in depth of 40 cm. Nickel concentrations in K-11 and H-8 were 172 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg respectively. Although there is no sever environmental concerns related to these heavy metals in dumping site, land spreading was suggested as the best alternative for managing the area. Discussion and Conclusions: After performing the experiments, no significant environmental concerns associated with heavy metals was seen. However, land spreading method was chosen as the best method for environmental management in the area

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