Proposed Emergency Plan for Dealing with and Treating the Ras Al-Ain Landfill and Implementing Source Separation

Proposed Emergency Plan for Dealing with and Treating the Ras Al-Ain Landfill and Implementing Source Separation

Green Southerners followed up on the issue of the Ras Al-Ain landfill over the past two years. The response the Green Southerners repeatedly received was that work was underway to find a solution the same statement that had been made when the landfill was closed for three months five years ago, yet nothing was done, and we have once again found ourselves facing the same situation.

We took action again two months ago after hearing about attempts to bury the massive landfill following preliminary treatment on site namely at the historic and environmentally sensitive Ras Al-Ain ponds, which are the source of drinking water for Tyre and its surroundings. We met and discussed the matter with the relevant authorities at the Union of Tyre Municipalities and the Municipality of Tyre, informed them of our position rejecting the landfill and the proposed on-site burial, and presented our vision for dealing with and treating the landfill after consulting experts. We emphasized the necessity of immediate action on the landfill before the onset of winter, in order to stop toxic emissions and the leakage of hazardous leachate.

Below is the emergency plan prepared and distributed by Green Southerners on 10/09/2015, following an inspection visit to the landfill and an open public seminar about it and the ways to address it. This plan is a continuation and a more detailed and technical version of the initial plan distributed by Green Southerners on 09/08/2015 during the broad civil protest meeting organized by Green Southerners and the Cultural Youth Forum in Tyre. The plan includes rapid steps to isolate the landfill and reduce its risks before winter, before its full treatment, which may take several months the time required to carry out the remediation work. It also includes steps to begin waste sorting at source in Tyre and the surrounding villages.