A leaking underground gas pipeline in the agricultural district of Gargouza, 30 km west of Tripoli, sent the Libyan National Office for the Protection of the Environment (ONPE) and the National Libyan Petroleum Enterprise (ENP-Naft-Libya) into crisis mode on Tuesday night, the organizations searched for ways in which to prevent the pollution of several wells in the area.
The leaking gas pipeline links the Sowa refinery, 45 km west of Tripoli, to the gas tank depot of Al-Matter Road, 15 km southeast of the city. A Libyan Petroleum Company official said the leak was caused by erosion.
Repairs, he noted, were being delayed by the people who demanded compensation before the start of the cooperation.
The crisis meeting was attended by Htiwich Faraj Htiwich, the ONPE chairman, and Ahmed Abdulkarim, the ENP secretary.
They were joined by experts to describe the alternative available for the cleanup and purification the polluted area, and ways to compensate farmers in the surrounding areas.
Abdulkarim assured that the ENP had taken all the necessary steps to check every inch of the 25-year-old gas pipeline.
Htiwich noted that his office had decided to set up a special expert to monitoring the steps taken by ENP in the fields, and the oil terminals and the warehouses in order to protect the environment.
Htiwich said that his oil company considered the protection of the environment to be of great importance. He explained a decision taken by ENP to create an emergency ecological plan in the petroleum-producing areas, in order to prevent and detect which could lead to an ecological disaster. – (Albawaba-MEBG)
