Crude oil polluted soil remediation using poultry dung (chicken manure)

Remediating crude oil polluted soil in developing countries by environment-friendly approach has attracted scientific interest.  Sampled crude oil and poultry dung were obtained from oil pit and farm in Warri, Delta State. 500 g/kg of crude oil polluted soil was weighed into four different containers labeled A, B, C and D; the soil was amended with the application of sundried poultry manure at various weights of 50, 75 and 100 g/kg respectively leaving sample D without amendment as control for a period of 42 days. Isolation and identification process of bacteria strains were carried out using standard spread plate method on nutrient agar. Ten bacteria isolates were obtained from the amended and control soil in this research. Genus from pseudomonas and staphylococcus has the highest representation of three species each. The rate of degradation in the sample was determined by gravimetric analysis. The total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) present in sample D (control) initially was 4550.08 mg/kg. Samples A, B and C after remediation period reduced to the value of 3410.61, 2664.90 and 1598.95 mg/kg, respectively. The total hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (HUB) increased gradually in the sample A, B, C and D to 7 × 10-4, 7.9 10-4, 8.0 × 10-4 and 5.0 × 10-4 respectively. The total heterotrophic bacteria count (THB) increased from 10 x 10-5 at zero week to 8.3 × 10-5, 8.5 10-5, 8.6 × 10-5 and 7.3 × 10-5 in the samples respectively. Physiochemical analysis of nitrogen increased from 0.04 to 0.17 mg/kg and phosphorous also increased from 1.72 to 6.73 mg/kg after the period of 42 days. This approach showed increased remediating effect of poultry dung on crude oil polluted soil.   Key words: Crude oil pollution, remediation, chicken dung, microorganism.