Minister: No hazardous waste has reached Euphrates River

Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Mehmet Özhaseki addressed the recent collapse in the heap leach area at the Çöpler Gold Mine in İliç, Erzincan, during his participation in the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Working Meeting last night.

Minister Özhaseki provided the following information:

"Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and our Energy Minister are currently in Erzincan İliç. It's a situation where a massive mass has shifted. Currently, 9 of our brothers are under the soil. There is a tremendous search and rescue operation underway. I hope and pray that they reach them as soon as possible.

The issue of whether the hazardous waste there has reached the Euphrates is crucial. Our relevant units, our general directors, their teams, collaborating scientists, and all the technical resources at our disposal have been fully deployed to the region. Our vehicles are on-site.

Our evacuation laboratories are there. Additionally, we are taking samples from both the soil and water and sending them to independent laboratories. Thankfully, so far, we haven't encountered any pollution or the feared incident. We are monitoring this in real-time." (AS/VK)