Hasakah, Syria (North Press) – Villagers to the southeast of Hasakah complain about the pollution of their groundwater caused by a spill of toxic water from the Tishreen oil field. It has deprived them of their only water sources and left their farmlands barren.
Muhammad Kadimi, 45, from the village of al-Alkana in the countryside of Hasakah, said that many villages near the oil field are greatly affected. The oil spill has contaminated the groundwater wells and natural water springs, such as the Taban spring, which feeds the villages nearby.
Kadimi told North Press that “when oil is extracted, large amounts of chemically toxic surface water is pumped into valleys near the field instead of designated wells, which leaks into groundwater and natural water springs in villages adjacent to the field,” he added.
The affected villagers visited the Tishreen oil field directorate, which is affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), to solve this disaster – “but to no avail,” according to Kadimi.
The oil leakage damaged farmlands and caused the death of fish near the Southern Hasakah Dam, as well as many livestock.
Hundreds of oil wells surround the Tishreen oil field in AANES-controlled eastern Hasakah.
The affected villages are al-Alkana, Tel al-Zahab, Ziqar, Yafa, al-Nahab, Khrab al-Ajayez, al-Hasewye, al-Fej, and Taban Sharqi in southeast Hasakah.
Youssef al-Ja’ban, 30, from the village of Taban in the eastern countryside of Hasakah, is one of hundreds of farmers who lost their farmlands.
Al-Ja’ban said that oil residue covered his farmland and the groundwater well.
The contaminated water “led to the death of 70 heads of my sheep.”
The farmer was forced to leave his home, fearing what would happen if his children were exposed to the toxic water.
“My land is no longer suitable for cultivation. This forced me to leave my home to look for a job on other land, as farming is my only source of income,” al-Ja’ban added.
Like all affected villagers, he hopes the AANES authorities will stop the spill of toxic materials into the water sources.
North Press contacted the relevant authorities and the Municipality Board in Hasakah, but none was willing to comment on the issue.