ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE OF RETAIL PETROL OUTLETS IN LOKOJA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA
ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE OF RETAIL PETROL OUTLETS IN LOKOJA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA
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Date
2017-11
Authors
DAUDA, Awwal
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Abstract
Retail Petrol Outlets (RPOs), an integral part of the modern society has experienced a growth
in numbers with the increase in consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria. Despite their
importance, the location and operation of RPOs come with various implications on the local
environment. Thus, their location and operation are often guided by a set of environmental
laws and regulations. This study was aimed at assessing the environmental compliance of
RPOs to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) guidelines in Lokoja Metropolis. To
obtain data for the study, a checklist based on the DPR guidelines was used to collect data on
the operational characteristics and the environmental compliance of the RPOs in the study
area. In addition, two sets of questionnaires were administered to managers and workers at the
selected RPOs to collect data on the factors militating against the environmental compliance
of RPOs in the study area. A reliability analysis of the questionnaires was performed and a
Cronbach‟s Alpha Value of 0.833 was obtained. A cross tabulation analysis was also
performed to test the relationship between the factors militating against environmental
compliance of the RPOs in the study area. The results reveal that 71.7% of the RPOs were
under the ownership of independent marketers, and were unevenly distributed across various
routes in the study area. An assessment of the environmental compliance reveals that 98.3%
of the surveyed RPOs have concreted forecourt. However compliance was low in other
categories as only 18.3% of the RPOs had monitoring procedures to detect leakages from
underground storage tanks (USTs). An analysis of the data collected on the factors militating
against environmental compliance revealed that knowledge feasibility, capital adequacy and
technical feasibility among the RPOs was generally low as 37.4% of the respondents agreed
to a little extent that RPO employees are regularly educated on compliance to environmental
regulations. Also, 33.6% of the respondents agreed to a little extent that the management of
RPOs avails resources to implement required regulations. It was also revealed that the
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monitoring and enforcement practices of the relevant regulatory body were generally weak as
30.9% of the respondents completely disagreed that the regulatory body monitors
implementation of regulations. The Chi-Square test results obtained from the cross tabulation
analysis revealed a relationship between capital adequacy and technical feasibility, monitoring
and enforcement practices and knowledge feasibility, with the Cramer‟s V values indicating a
strong relationship between the identified factors. Amongst other recommendation provided
in this study, it is strongly recommended that education and sensitization of the employees at
the RPOs to relevant environmental laws and regulations be made a priority by DPR.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER DEGREE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA
Keywords
ASSESSMENT,, ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE,, RETAIL PETROL OUTLETS,, LOKOJA METROPOLIS,, NIGERIA