Acknowledgements
The authors thanked the management of Afe Babalola University for their assistance during field investigations.
Conclusion
Borrow pits excavation and its associated risks are gradually on the increase following the rising trend in various construction works which are on-going in many developing countries. Four borrow pits have been assessed in this study in which two were active while the other two were abandoned (inactive). The volume of soil overburden removed from the abandoned borrow pits is much more than the volume extracted from the active sites, this significant change in the value of overburden removed causes significant change to the terrain of the borrow pit. It can be concluded from the study that the geohazards caused by excavation of borrow pits on the environment is of no small measure. Some of the potential and active risks include landslide occurrences, water and wind erosion, dumping of wastes that cause contamination of surface and groundwater, structural failures, depletion of soil nutrients, flooding and so on. It is therefore required that some critical measures be put in place to safeguard the environment. Government agencies and communities where both the active and abandoned borrow pits are situated must enforce proper closing and reclamation of borrow pits. Operators of borrow pits should also be encouraged to agree on reclamation terms before opening any site as this will provide for sustainable environment on the long run.