Naameh must not become another Bourj Hamoud
Lebanon, Local, 8/27/1997

Greenpeace on August 26 warned authorities not to dump toxic ash from the Karantina incinerator or the baled waste stored in a hangar in Bourj Hamoud in a quarry in Naameh

The Environment Ministry announced three days ago that baled garbage from Amrousieh and Karantina would be placed in a "sanitary landfill--not a dump" at an old quarry in Naameh, 15 km south of Beirut.

"The Naameh area is an agricultural area that is also densely populated. People and farmers use the ground water reservoirs, and this main source of their livelihood will be poisoned by the. . . dump if it contains toxic and hazardous material," the Lebanese office of the environmental group said.

Fouad Hamdan said a landfill anywhere in Lebanon can be accepted only if the environment ministry and the council for development and reconstruction "finally set up a national storage place for toxic and hazardous waste, meaning that only non-hazardous waste will be landfilled."

"We support the people Maameh in their protest against the landfill because the authorities are just creating more and more Bourj Hamouds all over the country without trying to solve the problem at the source," Hamdan went on to say.

"At the same time, industry and the hospitals are refusing to accept their responsibility in the disasters they are causing. They should be forced to pay for the pollution they are causing. It's the only way to make them reduce their waste generation and pollution," Hamdan said.

The ministry has insisted that the baled waste was not hazardous but simply garbage left over from the recycling and composting process.

Meanwhile, a gathering of Chouf notables issued a statement on August 26 condemning the "transformation of the Naameh hills into a waste dump."

The head of the Phalange party for the Chouf district, Joseph Eid, on August 26 warned against transforming the Naameh hills into a waste dump. He said it could have a serious effect on the area's environment and its ground water, especially the water feeding some of Beirut's suburbs.

Previous Stories:
  Samples from toxic barrels sent abroad from Lebanon for tests   (8/26/1997)
  Sukom expels Greenpeace members   (8/26/1997)
  Medics welcome tranquilizer ban   (8/22/1997)

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