Chibayish, Iraq — In southern Iraq, putrid water gushes out of waste pipes into marshes reputed to be home to the biblical Garden of Eden, threatening an already fragile world heritage site.
In a country where the state lacks the capacity to guarantee basic services, 70 percent of Iraq’s industrial waste is dumped directly into rivers or the sea, according to data compiled by the United Nations and academics.
Jassim al-Assadi, head of non-governmental organisation Nature Iraq, told AFP the black wastewater poured into the UNESCO-listed marshes carries “pollution and heavy metals that directly threaten the flora and fauna” present there.
Once an engineer at Iraq’s water res…
Keep on reading: Ancient Mesopotamian marshes threatened by Iraqi sewage, pollutants