Crude oil spill destroys over 1,200 acres of agricultural land

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Black oil spills have destroyed more than 1,200 acres of agricultural lands, leaving farmers with no yields this year in Saladin province. The environmental hazard on the region has been ongoing for the past eight years.

The large swathes of agricultural lands that have been affected are located in the province’s plains, north of Baghdad.

“[The spillover] has caused an environmental catastrophe,” Saddam Mousa, an Arab farmer, told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.

Nearly 25 acres of Mousa’s agricultural lands have been impacted by the spills from oil refineries.

The farmer has yielded no produce from his lands this year, he told Kurdistan 24.

“We have not benefited from the oil industry, instead our produce has been destroyed and our lands cannot feed the animals,” Taher Abdulla, another farmer affected by the crude spills, said.

The farmers have reached out to the local authorities to resolve the issues, according to Sheikh Ahmed Shalash, an advisor to the tribal council.

“It is the state’s responsibility to solve this issue, which can be resolved within hours,” he said.

Despite being the land of the Fertile Crescent, Iraq is plagued by corruption, old agricultural techniques, and decades of conflicts. A combination tha has destroyed the country’s agricultural sector.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Kirkuk Correspondent Dilan Barzan