Greener Journal of Environment Management and Public Safety
ISSN: 2354-2276
Submitted: 30/06/2016 Accepted:11/07/2016 Published: 06/08/2016
Research Article (DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJEMPS.2016.3.063016111)
The Spatial Impact of Industrial Establishments on the Environment in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria
*1Ehisienmhen Nicholas, 2Olayiwola AM, 3Ogbole JO, 4Alaga AT
134Cooperative Information Network (COPINE), Advanced Space Technology Application Laboratory (ASTAL), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), P.M.B 022, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
2 Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
*Corresponding Author’s Email: Unclenick2010 @yahoo .com
ABSTRACT
The study examines the spatial impact of industrial establishments on the environment in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State; examines the types of industry, their attributes and their spatial distribution in the study area; assesses the perception of the residents on the impact of the location of industries on the immediate environment; and evaluates the waste management practices of the selected industries of the study area.
Primary and secondary sources of data were used for this study. Primary data were collected through questionnaire administration, conduct of oral interview, focus group discussions and the determination of (x,y) ground coordinates of features of interest using the Global Positioning System (GPS). The results indicated that the industries located in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State are attributed to the socio-economic development and negative impact to the study area. It also shows that the industries located in the area are concentrated majorly in local government headquarters and they are sited closer to the existing industries and the pattern of distribution was said to be clustered. The study concluded that there is high rate of environmental pollution and industrial waste due to the industrial establishments and therefore suggested that there is need to draw the attention of the industrialists and policy makers on the necessity to strictly observe and enforce rules and regulations on Environmental Impacts Assessments (EIA) in the study area.
Keywords: Spatial Impact, Industrial Establishments, Environmental pollution, Environmental Impacts Assessments (EIA).
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Industry is an organisation that produces goods and services to earn profits, (Jain and Khanna (2013). Industrial establishment is key to regional development which considers the factors such as transportation, market and source of raw materials for sustainable development (Alfred, 1909; Segynola, 2000).
Industries can be categorised based on the mode of their services and the nature of processing of the raw materials, these includes; Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Quaternary (Onokerhoraye, 1986; Akinbode, 2002). Ajala (1998) grouped industries: small, medium or large scale industries. Different types of industries exist in an area. Industries can be classified either by using raw material, the numbers of workers employed, the amount of capital invested, and functions rendered by the industries. Using capital and labour approaches, there are large, medium and small scale industries. Using raw material approach, two types of industries emerge, these are agro – based and non- agro-based.
The concentration of industries in specific belts in the country result to environmental degradation in the same belts, all things being equal. This is because, industrialization, like any other human activity, makes great demand on the environment especially in terms of resource extraction and emission of waste. These concentrations make the problem of environment severe and difficult to handle in these belts (Segynola, 1988).
In view of the foregoing, this study was set against the background of examining the perception of respondents on the impact of industrial establishments on the environment in Esan West Local Government area of Edo State, Nigeria and to suggest measures that can be employed to protect the environment from being further deteriorated.
2.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Area
Esan West Local Government Area has an area of about 502 km2 and is located between latitude 6036'00''N and 6049'00''North of the Equator and longitude 6002'00'' and 60 15'0''E of the Greenwich Meridian (Fig. 1). It occupies a landmass of 483. 29 km2. It is bounded to the East by Esan Central Local Government Area, to the West by Uhumwode Local Government Area, to the South by Igueben Local Government Area, and to the North by Etsako West and Owan West Local Government Area (Eseigbe, 2010).
Various data were sampled for the work (table 1) and this led to the flow chart as developed :(fig 2)
Figure 1: Map of Esan West L.G.A.
Source: Ministry of Lands and Survey, Benin City, 2015.
Figure 2: Methodological flow chart
3.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
In examining the spatial impact of industrial establishments on the environment in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, it is important to know that the industries are well distributed in the entire study area (table 2), (fig 3)
Figure 3. Spatial Distribution of the Industries in Esan West local Government Area, Edo State
The spatial impact of the industrial establishments on the quality of the environment was also examined. It was discovered that the industrial establishments have both positive and negative impacts on the quality of the environment in the study area.
By implication, industrial establishments have great adverse effects on the environment in which the industries are located. This is in line with Owate et al. (2005), who concluded that environmental noise is increasing with alarming rates in industrialization.
It shows that different types of waste were generated by the industries in the study area. About 53.5% of the industries generate solid waste such as saw dust from the numerous wood industries, empty sachet from the water factories, cannel shells from the oil milling industries and husk of rice from the rice mills, among other industries that generate solid waste. 25.7% of the respondents agreed that liquid was generated in the area. These includes different forms of chemicals that are being washed into the environment by so many hair dressing and barbing saloons, photographic studios, filling stations, and cassava mills.
It was also found that 20.9% gaseous wastes are generated by industries in the area such as fumes from the various transportation industries and numerous plants. The types and rates of pollution were also examined by the researcher in the study area. On the types of pollution examined, 55 respondents out of 187, i.e. 29.4 % agreed that the type of pollution in the study area was chemical discharge into the environment, these chemicals discharge includes waste water from hair dressing and barbing saloons, petrol stations, fumes from moving vehicles, photographic studios, fume from the numerous generating plants, waste from cassava, cannel and corn mills. 73 numbers of respondents, i.e. 39.0% agreed that dust particles pose another form of pollution in the study area. These are generated by the numerous wood industries, block molding industries, rice mills, cannel cracking industries and vehicles plying the earth roads especially during the dry season. Poultry/piggery is another type of pollution in the study area. The remaining 59 number of respondents i.e. 31.6% agreed to be poultry/piggery odors which was generated by the various milling factories, wood industries, and welding industries. Also the rate of pollution was assessed.
The findings revealed that there are high rates of environmental pollution in the study area, out of a total number of 187 respondents, 82 i.e. 43.9% ascertained that the rate of pollution in the area was high. 19 respondents i.e. 10.2% agreed that the rate of pollution is very high, 71 of the respondents i.e. 38.0% agreed the rate of pollution in the area was low and while the remaining 15 of the respondents i.e 8.0%, agreed the rate of pollution was very low. Therefore, a lot of pollutants being released into the environment by the industries in the study area are capable of polluting the environment.
In examining the waste management practices of the selected industries in the study, the findings of the study reveals that a total number of 90 respondents i.e. 48.1%, agreed that the waste generated by the industries are being disposed off by burning the waste. 16 of the respondents i.e. 8.6% agreed that the industrial waste generated are disposed off by way of digging and burying in the ground. 45 of the respondents i.e. 24.1% agreed that the industrial waste generated are disposed off by dumping in the bush and while the remaining 36 of the respondents i.e. 19.3% agreed that the waste of the industries was disposed off by dumping in an open space.
The findings of the study on the waste management practices of the selected industries reveals that 52.9% of the respondents ascertained that the local government waste collection vehicles do collect their waste on weekly basis and while the remaining 47.1% of the respondents do not ascertain that the local government waste collection vehicle collects their waste.
4.0: CONCLUSION
The study concluded that there is need to harmonise contribution from policy makers, professionals in the field of social and environmental sciences and public opinions at the inception of industrial establishments. This would aid balanced economic growth with social, cultural and physical development of communities , cities , in developing nations. When the residents become aware of the effects of their unwise use of the environment, and are well equipped with the techniques of environmental management, the goals of the national policy on the environment will be easy to achieve. All hands must be on deck to see that the efforts being made to revitalise the environment are not wasted. However, the Federal Government should enforce the establishment of environmental protection agency boards at both state and local government levels in Esan West Local Government Area.
The contributions of industrial establishments in Esan West and Nigeria at large to environmental pollution and degradation are quiet substantial and potentially dangerous to human health through environmental contamination. The resultant effect of the high pollution load of the industries in Esan West and Nigeria at large is mostly due to weak or non-enforcement of environmental laws, lack of political will to back up existing laws or bring in new ones and the laisser-faire attitudes of industry. The need to subject the industries to EIA or environmental monitoring or audit need not be over-emphasised. There is need to draw the attention of the industrialists and policy implementers on the necessity to strictly observe and enforce rules and regulations of environmental impacts assessment in Nigeria. Given the investment scenarios in Nigeria prior to the EIA Act and the current patronizing attitude to its provisions, aggressive implementation of its provisions is necessary if the Act will not end up a “paper tiger”.
REFERENCES
Ajala O.A (1998) Regional impact of international Breweries Plc, Ilesa.
Akinbode A. (2002). Introductory to Environmental Resources Management, Ibadan Daybis Limited.
Alfred Webber (2011) Least cost the org wikipedia, The free encyclopedia.http./en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred webber.
Alfred Weber (1909) Least cost Approach Theory, Industrial location. An economic Geographical Analysis Second Edition, Newyorkpp.68-74.
Dimuna, K.O.and Dimuna, J.E (2007). Environmental Pollution and sustainable Development in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Confluence Journal of environmental studies.Vol.2, no. 1, pp. 28-31
Cite this Article: Ehisienmhen N, Olayiwola AM, Ogbole JO, Alaga AT (2016). The Spatial Impact of Industrial Establishments on the Environment in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Greener Journal of Environmental Management and Public Safety, 5(3):066-073, http://doi.org/10.15580/GJEMPS.2016.3.063016111