SANA’A (Dispatches) – A recent report has uncovered the involvement of French oil giant TotalEnergies SE in large-scale pollution of Yemen’s environment by dumping thousands of tons of toxic chemicals into waters around the areas where it operates in the impoverished and conflict-stricken Arab nation.
According to weekly French news magazine L’Obs, TotalEnergies did not honor any of its obligations while working at an oil basin in eastern Yemen twenty years ago, and is entirely responsible for a series of pollution that have adversely affected Yemen’s environment as well as the health condition of thousands of ordinary civilians.
The report revealed that the French oil giant polluted rivers as well as groundwater reservoirs, causing the spread of serious diseases among the local population.
The company did not report chemical leaks and spills, and flagrantly violated environmental laws in Yemen.
L’Obs noted that its correspondent paid a visit to the stricken area, reviewed dozens of exclusive documents, and even met with several Yemeni officials as the news magazine was investigating the case thoroughly.
The investigation exposed the burial of millions of liters of toxic material, application of substandard operating techniques, contamination of the country’s largest groundwater reservoir, and non-recycle of toxic waste.
L’Obs described the situation in the affected region as truly dreadful, arguing that leakage of chemicals and subsequent environmental pollution has had deleterious effects on the land, animals and local people there.
It also emphasized that such actions have resulted in a significant increase in cancer rates in the region, disappearance of honey bees and migratory birds, contamination of productive farming lands and their transformation into infertile regions.
The French news magazine termed the case as the greatest environmental scandal in the history of Yemen, stressing that the facilities built by TotalEnergies do not comply with the international standards in effect.