A sewage spill has leaked into the Gulf of Aqaba on Friday near the Israeli Port of Eilat, a senior Jordanian official said on Sunday.
“The entire spill was caused by the leakage of 1,500 cubic meters of wastewater from an Israeli water treatment plant in Eilat,” the official told the Jordan Times newspaper.
Israeli authorities informed Jordan about the spill, said the official, adding that both the water and the soil on the Jordanian side were safe, as the amount of wastewater that leaked into the sea was negligible.
The Israeli authorities contained the spill before it spread. “The leakage may be due to an overload in the plant's capacity,” said the official.
“The Israeli authorities, Eilat municipality and the ministry of health, have started conducting tests to check the water and the results will be conveyed to the Jordanian authorities as soon as they are finished,” said the official.
The concerned Jordanian authorities, at the same time, have collected samples from the country's waters to conduct their own tests and the final results are expected on Monday, said the official.
The tests will measure the samples' fecal coliform count.
As Jordanian territory was not in the immediately affected area, and because the spill is being diluted by the sea, the effect on Jordanian waters will be marginal and it will not harm marine life, said the official.
Similar incidents have taken place in the past and the authorities conducted tests.
“In not a single instance was the Jordanian side affected,” said the official.
The kingdom's seawater is under regular observation, and when there are any suspicions, the Aqaba pollution-control authorities conduct precautionary tests, said the official. He confirmed that all the shores of Aqaba were open at the moment – Albawaba.com
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