By Van Meguerditchian
BEIRUT: Tests show the red liquid
that contaminated the Beirut River earlier this month was not dangerous,
Environment Minister Nazim Khoury said Thursday.
Around two weeks ago, the Beirut
River turned red after a stream of an unidentified liquid began pouring into
the river through a sewage pipe adjacent to a bridge in Furn al-Shubbak.
The results of tests carried out at
the American University of Beirut’s Central Laboratory indicate that the change
in color was caused by a large amount of industrial red dye.
“In general, the laboratory tests
indicate that the substance found in the river is not harmful to the
environment and it is simply a dye used as coloring in industry,” Khoury said.
However, the tests and efforts by
the Environment Ministry have not identified the source of the red dye which
spilled into the Mediterranean Sea last month.
“On Feb. 22, I sent separate letters
to the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the Energy Ministry to
help us locate the source of the red dye ... neither has replied to my
request,” Khoury told The Daily Star.
Khoury said his ministry would
continue its investigation along with other ministries and the Public
Prosecutor’s office.
Speaking at a news conference,
Khoury said the ministry was currently trying to identify the sewage network
connected to the pipe that emptied the red dye into the river. “It’s not going
to be an easy task given the vast geographic space surrounding the area [where
the dye was emptied],” he said.
“We are still waiting for the map of
the sewage networks in the area from the Council for Development and
Reconstruction, and we hope they will send it to us soon,” Khoury added.
But the map could be a dead end,
Khoury said. “We cannot rule out the possibility that the waste was transferred
to the area by trucks and then discharged into the area’s sewage system,” he
said.
Local officials in Furn al-Shubbak
said last month that contamination of the Beirut River takes place regularly.
Eyewitnesses in the area reported
seeing various colors of liquid flowing from a sewage pipe there into the
Beirut River every few months. One man who runs a car rental shop in the area
who declined to be identified told The Daily Star that industries wait for
winter to dump waste into the running water.
Dismissing reports of the presence
of dangerous chemicals in the red dye, Khoury cited the laboratory tests, which
ruled out the presence of chemical compounds such as cyanide and chromium (VI)
in the samples retrieved from the river.
Chromium (VI) is known for its
carcinogenic effects, and the presence of cyanide in the river could have hurt
a number of marine organisms in the Mediterranean. Although the practice is
illegal, some still gather live fish by spraying sodium cyanide into the sea to
stun and bring them to aquariums.
According to Ahmad Houry, a
Professor of Natural Sciences at the Lebanese American University, the
phenomenon of discharging such waste into the river is extremely dangerous.
“I am glad they didn’t find Chromium
(VI) and Cyanide in the samples this time,” he said.
Houry also said that the ministry should also
make sure the contamination has not added any harmful bacteria into the river.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Mar-02/165237-tests-show-dye-in-beirut-river-not-dangerous.ashx#axzz1nr6UypeJ
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