Source of odour in Hashemiyeh ‘still not identified’

AMMAN — Authorities have not yet identified the source of emissions troubling residents of Hashemiyeh, but investigations are ongoing, officials say. 

Hashemiyeh residents insist the smell is coming from the Jordan Petroleum Refinery, a charge the refinery denies. 

“A very bad smell has been emitted over the past two weeks in Al Hashemiyeh. Residents believe that the refinery is the cause,” Hussein Omoush, who lives in the area, told The Jordan Times.

Residents of the area, located in Zarqa some 35km northeast of Amman, staged a sit in outside the refinery earlier this month, demanding that authorities identify the emissions and take action, Omoush noted. 

Hashemiyeh Mayor Oqla Zyoud said the smell has been pervading the air around for two months, “but over the past two weeks, the smell of gas is everywhere, all the time and worse than ever”.

A committee, including representatives of the ministries of environment and municipal affairs, the Royal Scientific Society and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery, is investigating the emissions, the mayor added. 

“We are waiting for this problem to be resolved,” he said.

Meanwhile, the refinery said environmental surveys are under way to identify the source of the smell, stressing that the source is still unknown.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, the refinery said a number of people complained on June 8 about odour in the area and so the refinery checked all of its production units.

No emission of poisonous gases resulting from the refinery’s operations was found, the refinery said in the statement, underlining that its production units are installed with automatic monitoring devices which sound alarms if toxic or flammable gases are emitted in order to warn employees.

“In addition, the refinery checked its perimeter using mobile inspection devices following the complaints, but no toxic gases resulting from the refinery`s operations were detected,” the refinery said.

It also highlighted that its perimeter is surrounded by toxic gas monitoring stations, which are linked to the Ministry of Environment to test the concentrations of gases in the air.