Assessing Health and Environmental Impacts of Quarrying In Embu County, Kenya
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Quarrying has been studied extensively throughout the world and has been shown to
have an effect on the natural environment and human health. Positively, stone
extraction has led to job creation and development of areas. On the negative side,
quarrying leads to land degradation, noise pollution, production of dust and formation
of cracks in nearby buildings due to vibration during the quarrying process. The
situation is not different in Kenya since there’s increase in stone use as a result of
growth of construction industry and the industry is faced with challenges of poor
working conditions, poverty, inadequate occupational safety knowledge, and the
absence of laws. The study sought a deeper understanding of these issues and used
qualitative and quantitative data descriptive research design. Questionnaires were
utilized to collect information from members of the local community, site
management, and quarry employees. The impacts of quarrying on the environment,
including the landscape, have been studied and documented. It was decided to
employ stratified random sample to gather data from the area citizens, while
purposive sampling was used to gather data from quarry laborers. It was necessary to
evaluate the information acquired with the assistance of statistical package for the
social sciences SPSS, which was used for cross tabulation, as well as for the creation
of frequencies and statistical graphs for the purpose of data interpretation. It was
decided whether there is a link between quarrying activities and the well-being of
both quarry workers and residents of the immediate neighborhood using the Chi square test. In this study, a sample size of 100 respondents was used, and findings
were obtained from 92 percent of those who responded. Findings from the studyagree
with other studies done that quarrying activities cause harm to the environment and
human health and that multiple approaches should be used to deal with the menace.
Description
A Research Project Report Submitted for the Award of Degree of Master of Environmental Studies and Community Development in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Studies of Kenyatta University, May 2024.