Manure has leaked into the Achna dam in Cyprus

Cow manure may have leaked into the Achna dam in Cyprus. The leakage of excrement could lead to an environmental disaster and cause irreversible damage to the dam and its surroundings.

According to the community leader Nikos Vassilas, the leakage from large reservoirs storing untreated manure at a neighboring farm was detected on Sunday. The leaked feces contaminated the soil and caused an unpleasant odor.

• Liquid waste seeped through fields and gardens, including potato crops, orange trees, and wheat, "burning" the crops, causing them to dry out and die," Vassilas told Radio CyBC, adding that ultimately they also reached sensitive wetlands around the dam.

According to local media reports, although cow manure can potentially be used as organic fertilizer, it cannot be used before composting because fresh manure has too high a nitrogen content and bacteria that can kill crops.

• Until recently, I myself was a shepherd and asked the government to look into the situation and measure various potentially hazardous substances in livestock farms in this area, but this has yet to be done," the community leader said.

He also noted that within a 1 km radius of the dam and the settlement, there are about ten livestock farms. To date, up to three percent of waste could have entered the dam's water. The only solution is to encourage proper processing of livestock waste, subsidized by the Ministry of Agriculture.

• Every year residents face the same problem; it stinks all summer," added the mayor.