Fiber Storage Blaze Raises Concerns Over Hazardous Gas
Yalova Environmental Platform, a local environmental organization, claimed that the recent fire on Sunday night at Aksa Acrylic Chemical Ltd storage facility located in Yalova province has caused the release of hazardous and cancerous gas into the air.
"The company did not make a single warning to local residents who lived around the factory zone," the platform said.
Greenpeace, on the other hand, responded the storage company administration's claims on the possible side effect of the incident, saying that the burning of fiber necessarily released nitrogen oxide, ammonia and hydro cyanic acid.
A massive blaze tore on early Sunday morning in a fiber storage on the highway between Yalova-Karamürsel provinces. While dozens of fire squats from surrounding cities could control the blaze after 9 hours, no casualties were reported. A possible spillover to adjacent chemical facilities and thermic power plant was halted by fire squats, which avoided a disaster on a larger scale.
In a statement, Ahmet Dördüncü, Akkök Group's CEO, said the company would return to its routine production schedule by Monday [January 28].
"The fire did not spill over to the chemical material storage section of the company. Therefore, we can't mention a hazardous impact on the environment."
Denying the factory's claims, Greenpeace Campaign Officer Hilal Atıcı warned that local residents should wear gas masks to prevent side effects of gas release in the air.
"Current gas emissions in the air will rain down to the earth and effect all living organisms through water and soil. Local authorities must immediately run tests to measure the amount of chemicals in the air," she told bianet.
Kemal Bayri, spokesperson of Yalova Environmentalal Platform, told bianet that they were notified by a local authority on high carbon dioxide levels surrounding the incident zone.
"During the press conference held by Akkök Group, I asked their CEO on the possible impact of hydro cyanic acid and other gas emissions. He didn't have a clue on what I was saying. Then, he tried to change the topic by saying that it was impossible to measure the effect during the fire. They are trying to present this cases like a light in the rye. In 1999, we barely survived a chemical leakage. I don't think our city will survive a third disaster," he said.
Aksa Acrylic Chemical Ltd, one of world's biggest fiber producers in the world, was established in 1968. Due to the massive earthquake in 1999, a chemical leakage in one factory's storage facility affected over 5,000 people. Following the incident, several recently cancer diagnosed inhabitants filed lawsuits for the factory's closure. In 2001, Socialist Ecologist Transformation Movement, a local organization, rallied for the closure of the factory. (HK)