Questions persist on environmental impact of waste from Beirut's Normandy Landfill
Daily Star
June 15, 2007
Daily Star staff
Environment Hotline
BEIRUT: Although it was intended to help shape a spacious agricultural venue in the Chouf region of Sibline, plastic waste from the capital's Normandy landfill has been dumped in several areas across Lebanon, raising fears among the Lebanese about the toxicity of the materials, said a report published in this month's edition of Environment & Development magazine.
After conducting tests and impact assessments of the Sibline project, the
Environment Ministry decided to transfer the plastic waste to Sibline for
the proposed venue, but since then the same waste has wound up in the landfills
of several towns and villages, including Sidon, Zahrani and Bhamdoun.
Chouf residents have staged numerous demonstrations in recent months to
protest the waste transfer, while several media reports have also warned about the
toxicity of the unexpected plastic waste arriving in the landfills.
In response to growing public dismay, real-estate giant Solidere issued a
statement in April saying the plastic waste being shipped from Normandy to
landfills in the Chouf region was not toxic.
"Normandy is free of waste and contains a limited quantity of treated
material made up of soil and plastic products that are harmless to the environment,"
the statement said.
The Normandy landfill is a byproduct of the 1975-90 Civil War in Lebanon.
During those years, the city of Beirut discarded large quantities of its municipal
waste in Normandy Bay along the Mediterranean coast.
A laboratory analysis conducted at the American University of Beirut showed
that the waste being dumped at the Sibline project and in other areas was all of
the same composition: a nontoxic blend of plastic materials and earth.
The analysis, however, also raised several questions about why the plastic
waste was being shipped to regions where no clear-cut developmental projects were
being conducted.
Solidere operations manager Diab Ayoub said his firm had signed a contract with
one of its subcontractors to have the plastic waste shipped to Sibline for
the agricultural project there.
"However," he added, "it seems some trucks expelled their contents in other
locations for one reason or another."
While the town of Bhamdoun succeeded in getting rid of a large portion of
mistakenly transferred waste, even larger quantities are still buried in the
soil of the mountainous village.
Waste randomly thrown throughout Bhamdoun's natural surroundings has
partially filled its well-known valley, stopped up the area's waterways and caused
drastic changes in the local agricultural sector. - Environment Hotline, The Daily Star
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