Morocco: Green gold turns into an ecological disaster

Zero tolerance therefore. According to the Rue20 website, inspection brigades are now operating in the strictest secrecy, carrying out surprise visits to oil mills (maâsras). The objective is to catch the owners in the act of dumping waste into nature.

The phenomenon is visible to the naked eye: in some rural areas, the wadis have turned black, contaminated by tons of residues. The oil extraction process generates two major pollutants: the pomace and especially the "margine" (liquid). When it is dumped directly into rivers, this toxic organic substance becomes a deadly poison for wildlife, flora, irrigated crops and livestock that drink from it.

Faced with this recurrent ecological disaster, the provincial commissions are tightening the screws. The measures imposed are drastic: immediate regularization of the environmental situation, compliance with crushing quotas and, above all, accelerated construction of sealed evaporation basins meeting technical standards. Oil mills that do not comply with these formal notices will be subject to heavy penalties for turning rivers into open-air sewers.