Authorities examine why color of Kamara River in Turkey’s northwest changed
TEKİRDAĞ – Demirören News Agency
Authorities have launched an inspection in the Marmara Ereğlisi district of the western province of Tekirdağ after the color of the Kamara Rives turned black and red.
The river, which flows into the Marmara Sea, reportedly became polluted and its color kept changing occasionally over the last couple of days. The locals, concerned about this unusual incident, informed the authorities.
Upon locals’ complaints, teams from the environment protection department of the Marmara Ereğlisi Municipality and the provincial directorate for environment and urbanization inspected the site and collected samples from the river.
The teams found an underground pipeline that dumps wastewater into the river, but they failed to find which company was using the pipeline to discharge its waste. The officials suspect that the wastewater coming from the pipeline could be hazardous.
The officials are still working to find the industrial facility that pollutes the river.
“The river has been running like this over the past seven to eight days. They checked the headwater of the river. But the source of this polluting waste could not be identified,” said Atilla Olgaç, from the Marmara Ereğlisi Environmentalist Volunteers’ Association.
“Our district is the land of agriculture, fishery and tourism. In the past we fought against plans to establish a flat glass plant and a thermal power plant here. I cannot imagine what could happen if heavy industry facilities are established here,” Olgaç added.
