More than fifty illegal quarries, mostly operated illegally by Arabs, are a source of irreversible environmental destruction and pollution in areas under control of the Palestinian Authority. The quarry operators are close associates of Abu Mazen. Arabs living near the quarries who have difficulty breathing due to the dust suffer in silence, often because their livelihood depends on the quarries and they know that any sort of protest would result in termination of their employment. The areas in quarries in question extend over 20,000 dunams (5,000 acres) in Judea and Samaria. The above information was divulged by the Forum for a Green Israel.