It is 110 tons of Diesel spilled right in our drinking water supply-- THE Nile. Call me pessimistic but TWO oil spills in the span pf two months is just down right outrageous.
What exactly are we waiting for? Where is our "ministry" of environment?
While authorities have graciously announced that most of the Diesel has 'evaporated', they failed to tell us anything about the long term implications of this ecological disaster. The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency stated that the Nile is 'free' from contamination --because the diesel was ' immediately sucked by hoses.'
The no-contamination article preceded the closing of five water treatment plants , this does not give the authorities much credibility does it? First you say that there is no spill, then you say that it has been sucked away, later you announce the closure of water treatment facilities and that the Diesel has evaporated away
!!
Well, here's a bit of Environmental Science 101 for ya:
There is such as thing as fate and transport of contaminants. When contamination occurs, the contaminant does not just vanish in thin air. Evaporation is not ,by any means, nature's way of cleaning up the water. Evaporation , correctly termed volatilization in this instance, means that part of the compound has switched compartments, from water to air. The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency assures us that Diesel is not very water soluble. While that is, at least to a certain extent, is true, it presents a problem of that not many people are aware of . Contaminants that are not very water soluble tend to stick more to particles and deposit in sediment. This simply translates to polluting the Nile, and the Red Sea before it.
But why am I elaborating so much on this topic? Well, the first time an oil spill occurred I thought to myself :"let it go accidents happen!" But now I am just worried that there may be a pattern about to develop here.. you know, much like the electricity blackouts, water shortages, and soaring meat prices!
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