ABSTRACT
This project examines
the locational impact of petrol stations in Uvwie local government area.
Primary data was collected using questionnaire and secondary data was collected
from Ikonos digital imagery of Warri metropolitan area, 50 petrol stations were
analyzed and questions administered to the respondents regarding to the
locational impact of the petrol stations in the study area. The study result
reveals, that the establishment and location of these petrol stations in
various parts of the study area is going on without due regard to planning
criteria, safety and without considering the environment. Petrol stations in
the area are built with little or no compliance to planning regulation and
standards; these therefore remain a source of concern to all. There is a need
therefore for plans and actions to tackle the situation for today and the
future. Suggestions were made so that any change introduced into the
environment should not facilitate its destruction and consequently hazardous to
human.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of study
The technological
initiative of man towards the development of automobile and the discovery of
petroleum triggered the building of petrol service stations at strategic
locations to meet the demand of vehicle owners (Abdul et al., 2009).
In recent times, there has been a sustained increase
in the number of petrol stations established in different parts of the country.
The reasons for such unprecedented increase are not farfetched: First, the
growing number of people in the country and the attendant increase in the
purchase of vehicles. Secondly, the attractive price of petrol both at control
price and black market prices which made more people to go into the petrol
retailing business (Uchegbu, 2002).
In view of this
development, many marketers take advantage of this need and build service
stations haphazardly without giving consideration to the possible effect of the
locations of the stations. It has now generally been recognized that economic
development can be a major contributing factor to growing environmental
problems particularly when such development is not sustainable. A greatly
improved understanding of natural resource base and mostly environmental
systems that support national economies is needed if patterns of development
that are sustainable can be determined and recommended to government.
Petroleum, (crude oil)
naturally is composed of various organic chemicals found in large quantities
below the surface of the earth and is used as fuel and as raw material in the
chemical industry. Modern (industrial) society uses it primarily to achieve
mobility. In addition, petroleum and its derivatives are used in the
manufacture of medicine and fertilizers, plastics, building materials, paints,
and cloths and to generate electricity. In fact modern industrialization
depends on petroleum and its products; the physical structure and way of life
of the urban centres are the result of an ample and inexpensive supply of
petroleum. In short, the goals of developing countries are based on the
assumption of petroleum availability.
Petrol Stations, serve
as outlets for retailing petroleum resources such as gas, fuel, kerosene etc.,
which are highly inflammable, therefore need to be located appropriately in
relation to other activities so as to
avoid its consequent impact on the immediate environment. The environmental
impacts of the locations of petrol stations are therefore not negligible and
may not be ascertained unless an Impact analysis is carried out.
1.2 Statement of
Problem
More than half of fast
growing world population is living in urban areas, and this is only expected to
grow in more coming decades (USAID, 2001). Most of the urban centers in the
world are exposed to some hazards, such as traffic congestion, pollution and
many more problems resulting from un-coordinated development. Apart from these
hazards, cities are also confronted with other problems like accidents,
explosion and fire. Urban centers have a varying degree of vulnerability,
depending on the level of development, copping capacity and the level to which
effective development control strategies have been implemented. In most urban
areas, the high demand placed on land resulted to illegal conversion, leading
to haphazard development and the deliberate location of petrol stations in
unsuitable areas and highly vulnerable to hazard (KASUPDA, 2009). In a highly
urbanized environment, Filling station is a significant contributor to traffic
problems like traffic congestion, pollution, fire and explosion. The extents of
these problems depend on the criteria or variable such as location, size and
set back from road etc.
Areas close to filling
stations witness a lot of noise, congestion, air pollution, foul odour and
other traffic related problems, especially when there is fuel scarcity which
results in long queuing or where the petrol stations does not conform with
planning standard . Indiscriminate parking leads to reduction in width of
carriageway meant for the efficient movement of automobiles and pedestrians.
Thus it becomes a major problem in our cities and especially in the Central
Business District, where multi-story buildings are common and the land use is
devoted mostly to commercial purpose.
The resultant effect of
such illegal parking and queuing therefore is traffic congestion, loss of
productive hours and delay in journey. Most of these identified problems of
filling stations still persist in Uvwie due to lack of adherence to planning
regulations. This work, therefore addresses the problem confronting urban
environment in its bids to ensure sustainable location of filling stations.
This study explored GIS capability to analysis the spatial analysis on the
location of petrol stations in
Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta state and proffer ways of ensuring strict compliance
to planning laws and regulations with regards to petrol stations location. To
achieve a desired goal, this work identifies area of high concentration of
petrol stations in Uvwie Local Government Area.
1.3
Aim and Objectives
The study is aimed at assessing
the spatial distribution and locational impact of petrol service stations on
the environment with a view to identifying the physical development problems
and to make improvement proposals. (A case study of Uvwie Local Government
Area).
The following
specific objectives were pursued in order to achieve the above aim:
- To
determine the location of petrol service stations in the study area.
- To determine the proximity of
petrol stations to residential houses, public/semipublic institutions.
- To
ascertain the effects of the locations of petrol service stations on the
environment.
- To
recommend physical planning solutions to alleviate the problems
identified.
1.4 Scope of
study
The scope of the study
is limited to Uvwie local government area which is the study area. The study
involves digitizing the satellite imagery of the area, generating digital
facility map, manipulating and analyzing the dataset as well as presenting the
results in Tables and Map format. The study only took into consideration built
up areas that are vulnerable to noise and vapour gas emission at selected
buffer distances of 60m and 100m proximity analysis for public institution.