Wastewater Polluting Hormozgan Waters

Some 83,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater and sewage are dumped into the coastal waters of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province every day from the refineries and the satellite town of Hadish as well as surrounding areas, a provincial environment official said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Majid Vafadar, the head of Hormozgan’s office of the Department of Environment, also said Persian Gulf waters are polluted daily with 68,000 cubic meters of wastewater from refineries as well as nearly 15,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage from Hadish and its outlying districts, IRNA reported.

“A comprehensive report evaluating the damage was submitted to the prosecutor of Bandar Abbas last month,” he said.

The pollution poses serious health risks to swimmers. A committee, headed by the deputy for political and security affairs at Hormozgan’s Governorate, is responsible for the monitoring of swimming resorts.

Vafadar named several structures within the coastal territories that have failed to obtain an environmental permit, including the municipality’s women beach resort and the aquarium, the fish market and Nakhl-e Nakhoda Pier, Hakhamanesh Tourist Complex and the Airbus Martyrs memorial building that is used for commercial purposes as well.

“Judicial authorities have been informed about these illegal constructions for three years now,” he said.

The official stressed that DOE is unable to stop such projects when experts’ opinions are ignored by high-ranking authorities.

Vafadar said many of the projects were approved without an environmental assessment during the previous administration’s tenure (2009-13).

“There’s nothing we can do about these projects,” he added.