By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN - The “baseless findings” of a study alleging the Disi aquifer contains high radiation levels will not hamper the implementation of the multimillion-dollar Disi Water Conveyance Project, a senior government official said Monday.
In the meantime, the Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission (JNRC) said the study is inaccurate and added that ministerial and technical committees had examined the safety of the aquifers at Canadian and American labs, while an MP questioned Jordanian researchers’ participation in the study alongside Israeli scientists.
The USAID-funded study, which started in 2005 and is ongoing, claimed that underground wells in the Disi aquifer in the south of the Kingdom have 20 times more radiation than is considered safe for drinking.
Avner Vengosh, a researcher at Duke University in the United States who led the study published in Environmental Science and Technology, said referring to Disi water, “it's water you don't want to drink”, adding that “several studies have shown it is associated with high levels of bone cancer. Others have even shown some association with leukaemia".
But Water and Irrigation Minister Raed Abu Saud told reporters yesterday during a press conference that “the drinking water pumped to Jordanians … is 100 per cent safe. This is what matters, that our people are drinking safe water”.
“They [the researchers] didn’t take water samples from wells owned by the Jordan Water Authority [JWA], but from wells owned by the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and this water is used for washing the phosphate… I’m certain that no one took any samples from wells owned by the JWA,” the minister said.
He said that fossil water all over the world contains radioactive substances that vary from one well to another and from one area to another, adding that “we are perfectly aware of that”.
“I’m not sure if the researchers in charge of the study had permission from the government or any other entity to carry out the study, but we have strict standards for drinking water and we abide by them,” Abu Saud said.
“JWA labs are qualified to test if the water contains radioactive particles and they are accredited by the International Atomic Energy Agency… We actually carry out similar tests for neighbouring countries…,” he added.
A comprehensive environmental assessment was carried out before approving the Disi project, whose financial closure is scheduled to be signed later this month, and examined the levels of radioactive particles at the Disi aquifer, he said.
“The findings were sent to the agencies financing the project and we answered 18 questions from them on the matter,” the minister said.
Abu Saud said the study was published while a delegation from the European Investment Bank, which will likely fund part of the project, was visiting the Kingdom, adding that the ministry and the bank discussed the findings.
Commenting on a question as to whether the study was meant to create confusion and hinder the country from achieving water security, the minister said: “What we care about is securing self-sufficiency regardless of what is being said or the political decision. We have a water crisis and Jordan has the right to address it.”
He added: “I’m not sure if the study has any hidden goals given the time during which it was published.”
With the country’s annual water deficit estimated at 500-600 million cubic metres (mcm), the Kingdom is awaiting the implementation of the Disi project to generate 100mcm, thus reducing the water deficit by 20 per cent.
“The scheme will not solve the whole problem but part of it… the deficit will continue even with the implementation of the Disi project, but it will be less severe,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, JNRC Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General Jamal Sharaf cast doubt on the study and its results, calling them “inaccurate and not trustworthy”.
“The study does not serve any scientific goal as its conclusions are already known and apply to underground water around the world,” Sharaf said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times yesterday.
“Jordanian standards for drinking water are strict and obligatory for authorities… the standards are stricter than those applied in advanced countries,” he added.
According to national specifications, the permitted annual exposure to radioactive elements must not exceed 0.5 millisievert/year (mSv/yr). Radiation in local water sources does not exceed 0.3mSv/yr, officials have said.
President of Balqa Applied University Omar Rimawi, who was among the team that conducted the study, said Sunday the survey is “purely scientific and had no political agenda”, acknowledging that the samples of water tested were obtained from underground wells which are used for agricultural purposes.
But MP Mubarak Abu Yameen, who chairs the House Legal Committee, questioned Rimawi’s participation in an international study that alleges that part of the country’s drinking water is contaminated with radioactive particles.
“I addressed a question to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research inquiring about the participation of Rimawi and his deputy along with Israeli scientists,” Abu Yameen told The Jordan Times over phone.
He added that the Lower House will take appropriate measures based on the ministry’s response, expected in a week.
