Oil spills pile on pressure for Iraq’s farmers

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A picture shows an oil spill into an agricultural land in the region of Hamrin, north of Tikrit, in Iraq’s province of Salaheddin’Damaged land’In Hamrin, layers of sludge pile up as excavators build up dirt barriers — a temporary measure to stem the flow of contaminated water onto farmland below.The oil not only damages the soil and crops but can also pollute groundwater in the water-scarce country.Said, the farmer, said “the soil is no longer fertile — we have not been able to cultivate it since 2016”.Some other farmers had already abandoned their lands, he added.He pointed to a green plot of land so far untouched by the spills and said: “Look how the crops have grown there — but not even a grain has sprouted here.”Oil spills have contaminated 500 hectares of wheat and barley fields in Salaheddin, said Mohamed Hamad from the environment department in the province.Hamad pointed to the reign of IS, which collected revenues from oil production and smuggling by building makeshift refineries and digging primitive oil storage pits.He said the group blew up the pipelines and wells of the oil fields of Ajil and Alas, causing crude oil to flood and collect in the Hamrin hills’ natural caves.Earlier this month, due to heavy rain, oil remnants again poured into agricultural lands, Hamad said, and “unfortunately, the leak damaged land and crops”.Authorities have buried IS’s makeshift storage pits, Amer al-Meheiri, the head of the oil department in Salaheddin province, told Iraq’s official news agency INA last year.Yet during the heavy rains, the oil continues to seep out.

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