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The paper discusses the imperatives of sand mining and the environmental impacts using selected case histories in the Niger Delta and elsewhere. The continuation of sand mining in spite of the associated adverse environmental effects, have been linked to the creation of new usable land from marginal lands of the region and sustained supply of aggregates for expansion of civil infrastructure. The case studies highlight the project cycle of sand mining and the circumstances in which environmental peculiarities influence the procedures and strategies for abstraction. The major concerns of sand mining in the riverbeds and open sea are accelerated coastal and riverbank erosion, surface water turbidity due to re-suspended sediment load, threats to coastal infrastructure and the prospect of wider dispersion of contaminated sediments with extended effects on water quality, health and safety of marine life. The paper emphasizes the need to integrate mitigative measures of potential impacts into the planning and execution of sand mining projects..
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