TURKEY tr-national

Waste scandal hits Turkish town of Dilovası

ISTANBUL - Radikal | 2/1/2011 12:00:00 AM |

1,000 tons of industrial purification sludge probably carrying poisonous elements were found dumped into a vacant field between Tavşancıl and Çerkeşli villages in Kocaeli province.

During investigations conducted by the Dilovası Municipality Environment Protection and Control Team in Kocaeli province in the Marmara region, 1,000 tons of industrial purification sludge probably carrying poisonous elements were found dumped into a vacant field between Tavşancıl and Çerkeşli villages.

The purification sludge contained cosmetic tubes, stamps belonging to firms, scales and order receipts. The municipal firms tracking the receipts reached three different companies whose authorities said they delivered the waste to an authorized recycler.

“The firms gave their purification sludge to recycling firms that have a license from the ministry. The job of those firms is to compress the mud and make them burn in cement plants or İZAYDAŞ in return for money,” said Mustafa Yılmaz, the director of Environment and Forest Directorate.

“The incident will be revealed when the recycling company is determined by [tracing] these receipts. It might take a week,” said Yılmaz, saying that Gov. Erhan Topaca is also investigating the issue.

Authorities are concerned that the purification sludge might be composed of poisonous elements that could mix with the soil with rain and water.