Post by tileiohmaleas on Oct 12, 2007 22:37:33 GMT -5
MORE THAN 1,000 tonnes of raw sewage has poured into the sea off Kyrenia after a wall collapsed at the local treatment plant on Wednesday. Reports late last night said that the leak had not been stopped and that 42 tonnes of untreated waste were still flowing into the sea every hour.
Details of the collapse only began to emerge yesterday, with one international environmentalist describing the situation as a disaster.
Unconfirmed reports say the entire sewerage system in the north has collapsed. The reason for the wall’s disintegration was last night still not known.
According to Turkish Cypriot channel Bayrak, one of the walls housing the Kyrenia Water Purification Installation collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, discharging approximately one thousand tones of untreated waste water into the sea.
According to AFP, Turkish Cypriot authorities have set up a crisis centre and are warning residents and tourists not to swim or fish in the harbour.
Ozgan Etaskent, a journalist from Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Yeni Duzen, told the Cyprus Mail last night that experts and workers from Turkey had been brought in and parties were working night and day to fix the problem.
Efforts are focusing on pumping the remaining waste into the storage depots of a new treatment plant being built next to the old one.
Etaskent said authorities were hopeful the process could be completed by Monday, adding that difficulties will be exacerbated by the three-day religious festival of Eid beginning today, which sees businesses close for the duration.
The new plant is expected to be fully operational in three or four months.
Etaskent said a quarantine zone has also been set up but only in the area immediately around the damaged wall. He added that he had no knowledge of beaches being fouled by the effluent or of the pollution being carried on to any other areas by the currents.
It is expected that the spill will have dire consequences on the north’s tourism and fishing industries.
The north’s ‘Environment Minister’ Asim Vehbi and ‘Interior Minister’ Ozkan Murat, arrived at the scene to inspect the situation yesterday . Vehbi also called on locals to stop swimming or fishing in the sea.
Details of the collapse only began to emerge yesterday, with one international environmentalist describing the situation as a disaster.
Unconfirmed reports say the entire sewerage system in the north has collapsed. The reason for the wall’s disintegration was last night still not known.
According to Turkish Cypriot channel Bayrak, one of the walls housing the Kyrenia Water Purification Installation collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, discharging approximately one thousand tones of untreated waste water into the sea.
According to AFP, Turkish Cypriot authorities have set up a crisis centre and are warning residents and tourists not to swim or fish in the harbour.
Ozgan Etaskent, a journalist from Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Yeni Duzen, told the Cyprus Mail last night that experts and workers from Turkey had been brought in and parties were working night and day to fix the problem.
Efforts are focusing on pumping the remaining waste into the storage depots of a new treatment plant being built next to the old one.
Etaskent said authorities were hopeful the process could be completed by Monday, adding that difficulties will be exacerbated by the three-day religious festival of Eid beginning today, which sees businesses close for the duration.
The new plant is expected to be fully operational in three or four months.
Etaskent said a quarantine zone has also been set up but only in the area immediately around the damaged wall. He added that he had no knowledge of beaches being fouled by the effluent or of the pollution being carried on to any other areas by the currents.
It is expected that the spill will have dire consequences on the north’s tourism and fishing industries.
The north’s ‘Environment Minister’ Asim Vehbi and ‘Interior Minister’ Ozkan Murat, arrived at the scene to inspect the situation yesterday . Vehbi also called on locals to stop swimming or fishing in the sea.