The Sohag Governorate has announced it had prepared large quantities of sponge and chaff to contain oil that spilled into the Nile from a factory in Edfu, Aswan on Saturday. Authorities expect the spill to arrive to Sohag’s waters on Tuesday.
Sohag's water company chief, Mahmoud Nafea, told the state-run news agency MENA that company laboratories had been put on alert to contain the spill by any means possible. He added that at stations close to where the spill is expected to pass, water pumping will be halted.
The Holding Company for Water and Waste Water filed a complaint against a sugar plant and an edible seeds plant, suspecting that both may have caused the spill.
On Monday, Environment Minister Mostafa Hussein, Luxor Governor Ezzat Saad and Qena Governor Adel Labib followed cleanup efforts from a Nile boat.
Hussein said efforts are continuing to remove oil spilled between Luxor and Qena.
Water plants at the Nile between Luxor and Aswan had helped to diminish the five-kilometer-long spill. Water was cut off in Esna and Armant as the spill passed, but pumping in central Luxor was not affected.
