Source of foul smell in Hashemiyeh identified

AMMAN — Liquid waste from the Jordan Petroleum Refinery has been identified as the source of a foul smell that has troubled residents of Hashemiyeh for the past month, the mayor said on Wednesday. 

A committee of representatives from the ministries of environment and municipal affairs, the Royal Scientific Society and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery has been investigating the odour, Hashemiyeh Mayor Oqla Zyoud said.

“The committee found that water coming from the refinery and running into a stream in Hashemiyeh has formed a pond. The water didn’t contain toxic materials but after a still pond was formed, foul smells started to come out,” Oqla told The Jordan Times.

Bulldozers have cleared the stream to prevent the formation of ponds, the mayor said.

“There are no odours now and we hope that this doesn’t happen again,” he added.

Residents of the area, located in Zarqa some 35km northeast of Amman, staged a sit in outside the refinery earlier this month, demanding that authorities identify the emissions and take action, according to a local resident.

The smell has pervaded the air in Hashemiyeh for two months, but worsened since the start of June.

Following residents’ complaints, the refinery checked its production units and did not detect any emission of poisonous gases resulting from its operations, the refinery said in a recent statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.