QUARRY POLLUTION

The quarry pollution started during the winter because of the constructions in Beitar Illit. From the corner of the settlement, the water used to wash the stones flows down to the valley where it joins the spring.

Down the settlement, this slurry is so humid that one can hardly walk, but farther down in the valley, the mud dries and forms a layer of concrete that covers dunams of land and impedes water or air from penetrating the soil.

There, nothing can grow anymore, and to break the layer, traditional techniques aren't enough, where a donkey was sufficient, engines are now needed.

Also, the 77 traditional irrigation pools of Wadi Fuqeen are in great danger as the mud gets into the irrigation system, polluting the pools and clogging the irrigation pipes. This quarry pollution is even worse than the sewage because it suffocates any life and destroys the land and the spring…He is afraid it could be “the end of farming in that part of the village”.

Map of Wadi Fuqeen presenting the springs and the quarry pollution in grey.