Director Cautions Against Indiscriminate Disposal Of Chemicals

The Deputy Director, Pollution Department, Ministry of Environment, Mr Ahmed Alfa, says indiscriminate disposal of chemicals poses great danger to the soil.

He said in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, recently that such disposal also had adverse effect on ground waters.

According to him, there are two types of chemicals, the natural substances and man-made chemicals.

Alfa said that if these chemicals were not properly disposed, they made the natural environment to become unproductive and unfriendly to man.

He said that most sicknesses were as a result of consuming these chemicals through underground water and food.

“When these chemicals enter the ground, they cause a lot of harm to the biological organisms such as plants and animals.

“Man in this case should be considered most important since man is the consumer of food and water.

“One of the greatest concerns of these chemicals is in the area of water pollution.

“In water, they cause a lot of problems because some of them are known to cause cancer, irritation and other skin related ailments when drinking the contaminated water.”

Alfa said that the major concern was the non-response of these chemicals to treatment when waste water was being recycled in water treatment facilities.

“No matter how much the treatment processes are done, some of these chemicals are still present in the treated water.’’

He said that industries and oil companies were the major contributors to these problems.

“We have been receiving a lot of reports concerning oil and textile companies which have been operating since the 70s and 80s without treating their waste water.”

Alfa said that the consequences were the contamination of underground water resources by the chemicals released from where such industries were located.

Alfa, who cited Kano, Lagos, Benin and Aba where such industries were located, lamented the difficulties faced by the people in these areas in having access to clean water.

“In Kano for example where a lot of researches were conducted, ground water in most parts of Kano is highly polluted.

“As a result, the amount of fresh water available for consumption has been reduced.

“You understand that Kano is in semi-arid area and because of the climate change, the greater part of the city is becoming drier, and this makes it difficult to get fresh water.’’

He said that government was making efforts to find a lasting solution to some of the harmful effects caused by the chemicals to the environment.

“Also, efforts are being made by the government to assist in providing central treatment facilities for cities in order to curb the situation,’’ he said.