GAZA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - In a scrapyard near Gaza's fence with Israel, thousands of old batteries are piling up - one of several such sites in the enclave set up to mitigate the environmental repercussions of the blackouts that are a feature of daily life. To minimize the impact of the thousands of tonnes of old batteries that have built up after 15 years of blockade, environment officials have set up five storage sites away from heavily populated areas. "Keeping batteries exposed to the environment is certainly dangerous," said Ahmed Al-Manama, of the Water and Quality Environment Authority. "Lead can get into drinking water reserves and dust from the batteries can blow away and pollute plants, trees and the soil." For the enclave's ever-inventive scrap dealers, however, they provide an opportunity, and scavengers tour the streets in donkey carts, buying up old batteries or picking them off garbage dumps for resale and recycling.

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