Morocco Shuts Down Radioactive Quarry to Protect Public Health and Groundwater

The closure of the Mediouna quarry is a public health issue, the minister tries to explain to calm the neighboring population. According to the daily Al Massae, the decision was taken after the report of a commission which confirmed the information circulating on the contamination of the groundwater by carcinogenic products from this quarry.

The delay in publishing the results of this commission has intensified the concern of the inhabitants of the commune of Al Majjatia, who, supported by human rights associations, have denounced the slowness of the commission. Some had even decided to drink only mineral water to avoid any contamination.

While sounding the alarm, the report recommends that the company operating this quarry respect the decisions of the provincial commission of the prefecture of Mediouna by freezing its activities and proceeding with its rehabilitation. The stones processed in the Mediouna quarry come from the city of Bouarfa. Before being exported, they are processed and packaged, in the form of grains, in small boxes, the newspaper points out.