The quarry construction in Beitar Illit is polluting the nearby valley with mud and slurry runoff from washing stones. This runoff dries into a hard concrete-like layer that suffocates the soil and prevents growth. It has also polluted the 77 traditional irrigation pools in Wadi Fuqeen and clogged the irrigation pipes, threatening local farming. Without intervention, the resident fears this quarry pollution could end agriculture in the affected areas.

1. QUARRY POLLUTION
The quarry pollution started during the winter because of the constructions in
Beitar Illit. From the corner of the settlement, the water used to wash the
stones flows down to the valley where it joins the spring.

2. Down the settlement, this slurry is so humid that one can hardly walk, but
farther down in the valley, the mud dries and forms a layer of concrete that
covers dunams of land and impedes water or air from penetrating the soil.

3. There, nothing can grow anymore, and to break the layer, traditional
techniques aren't enough, where a donkey was sufficient, engines are now
needed.

4. Also, the 77 traditional irrigation pools of Wadi Fuqeen are in great danger as
the mud gets into the irrigation system, polluting the pools and clogging the
irrigation pipes. This quarry pollution is even worse than the sewage because
it suffocates any life and destroys the land and the spring…He is afraid it
could be “the end of farming in that part of the village”.

5. Map of Wadi Fuqeen presenting the springs and the quarry pollution in grey.