PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - Environmental effects of earthquake wastes are neglected...

Environmental effects of earthquake wastes are neglected... During the debris removal works in ANTIOCH, rubble, medical and chemical wastes are dumped around the Narlıca neighborhood...

Chemical wastes such as rubble, garbage, medical and asbestos, plastic (PCB) and household appliances that reach gigantic sizes contain all kinds of wastes that harm both human and animal health and cause epidemics.

These should be poured into places far from the areas where there is a lot of underground and surface water, water basins, wetlands suitable for agriculture, and city waters, and into areas that are far from the nature and wild life. They should not be poured on the valley bottoms but be disposed properly in an impermeable ground and be recycled.

Otherwise, they create a much greater risk of loss of life and disaster than the loss of life in the earthquake, which, if this risk occurs, would not be called debris removal, but murder.

Since these toxic substances, which mix with air, soil, underground and surface waters and stay there for a long time, they pass to food through the food chain, agriculture, and animal husbandry, thus causing diseases such as cancer to humans. These toxic wastes threaten forests, pastures and bird sanctuaries and therefore is a threat to the ecosystem and to human life.

Narlıca district is 8-10 km from Antakya center by land. Debris, medical and chemical wastes, and garbage are dumped into the valley on the Kuruyer side, which is a picnic area 3 km away from the Narlıca district. It is right next to the Amik Plain where Hatay Airport is located. It is about 15-20 km away from natural areas such as Kisecik, Gülderen and Karlısu, which are assigned as new settlement areas by the government. The rubble and wastes in question were photographed as they were being dumped around Narlıca by hundreds of earth-moving trucks, however photographing was prohibited by the security forces. Instead, remote video shooting was done. (Narlıca neighborhood is around the back ridge of the skirt of Habib-i Neccar Mountain, where St. Pierre Church is located).

On the other hand, the debris and concrete pieces seen on the Asi River is a sign that the rubble is poured into Asi, which is an international river. We are waiting for the authorities to explain where and how the earthquake wastes are being dumped.

Regads.

Friends of Ancient Antioch Platform