## 5 Debris Management and Related Hazards in the Earthquake-Affected Provines in Turkey
### Debris Management and Related Hazards in the Earthquake-Affected Provinces in Turkey
#### 5.2.5 Adiyaman Disposal Site  
Adiyaman is located in the northeastern part of the earthquake-affected area and after Hatay and Kahramanmaras provinces it is the third most affected province in East Anatolia based on the number of severely damaged and collapsed houses [15; 46]. Adiyaman town, although further away from the main branch of the East Anatolia fault zone suffered extensive collapses. These collapses along with the urgent demolitions that followed the earthquake created a large volume of debris and thus the need for debris removal, transport, and disposal. A debris disposal site was established to the south of the industrial area in the northwestern part of Adiyaman City (Figure 12). Immediately east of the site, 30 high-rise residential buildings have been constructed in an area of 0.04 km\({}^{2}\) and a perimeter of approximately 1 km (Figure 12). Further to the east, at a distance of 2 km from the site, the main residential area of Adiyaman begins (Figure 12), while in the wider area to the south of the site, mainly farmland is developed. The debris had been deposited within the agricultural land (Figure 12). A local stream which originates from the northwest runs through the disposal site (Figure 12). Almost parallel to the stream, a canal has been constructed apparently for irrigation purposes to the surrounding land and crops (Figure 12). During our field survey in Adiyaman in early April 2023, the site was fully operational. The arrival of trucks loaded with debris from the earthquake was constant. This was followed by dumping, leveling, and compaction of debris with bulldozers and rollers (Figure 13). No other heavy machinery was observed to separate the materials, nor were there any steel balls separated from the concrete revealing intermediate on-site further treatment of the debris for recycling and reuse. The formation of dust clouds were constant due to the movement of heavy machinery on the debris pile, the leveling and compaction of the pile but mainly due to the unloading of the debris on site (Figure 13). An effective applied measure for the reduction of dust in the surrounding area was that the road leading to the disposal site was constantly wet. The above characteristics of the surrounding area and the debris management reveal that the site is not suitable for debris disposal due to its establishment too close to residential areas where a large part of the population lives and works, agricultural land for crops, which were partially covered by debris and surface water bodies (streams and artificial irrigation channels). Furthermore, the constant arrival and departure of trucks and operation of heavy machinery at the debris disposal site without any measure for the reduction of the generated dust severely limit the suitability of this earthquake debris disposal site. The risks and impacts to public health and to surface water have been mentioned in the previous cases of disposal sites presented so far. The new risk emerging at this site is the impact of the site on surrounding farmland and crops. Soil contamination could be observed due to the hazardous material of the debris such as chemicals, heavy metals, and petroleum products, which can leach into the soil and subsequently reduce the soil quality and fertility. Contaminated soil can have long-term effects on plant growth, disrupt ecosystems, and potentially enter the food chain. Figure 12: Pseudocolor image maps in the Adiyaman disposal site area before (first map, acquisition on 3 February 2023) and after (second map, acquisition on 8 June 2023) the initiation of the debris removal from the earthquake-affected area. Figure 13: Characteristic views of the earthquake debris management in Adiyaman disposal site. (**a**) The formation of dust clouds was constant during debris treatment at the site. The applied protection measures against dust-containing asbestos fibers were limited. (**b**) The debris disposal site was set up close to water bodies including a stream and an artificial channel.