CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Crude oil is physically, chemically and biologically harmful to soil because it contains many toxic compounds in relatively high concentrations (Franco et al., 2004). Soil contamination can result in soil degradation, bring great loss to agricultural production and pose threat to human health (Lijuan, 2012). Crude oil spill is a common event in Nigeria especially in the Niger Delta areas of the country. Spills may arise from oil well drilling, production operations, transportation, refining, storage and marketing. It could also be from anthropogenic sources such as sabotage or accidental spills such as ruptured oil pipelines (Oberdorster and Cheek, 2000).