<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-512240500.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-512240500.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-512240500.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > 1 of 15 A built up pile of waste takes over the streets in Beirut's northern suburb of Jdeideh on Feb. 25, 2016. Lebanon canceled a plan to export its waste to Russia, sending Beirut's six-month garbage crisis back to square one as mountains of trash choke the city's air and streets. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

The Lebanese capital of Beirut is swimming in a sea of trash and it doesn't appear that life rafts will be provided any time soon.

In July, one of the city's primary landfills reached capacity at more than 15 million tons of trash; unable to do anything else, the city began dumping the trash into the streets.

Then came the rain storms. Garbage literally flooded the streets, making matters even worse.

Months later, the problem persists.

According to CNN, the government had planned on contracting a British firm to export the garbage to Russia, but the plan fell through on Friday .

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Thousands of protestors have gathered to call for action. They say it's not just an eyesore, it's a health risk. Experts told the Daily Star that garbage in such large quantities is bound to increase pollution and acid rain, and it's a breeding ground for diseases .

Some have taken to burning the trash, causing the Health Minister to step in and ask municipalities to pledge not to burn the garbage , Al Bawaba reported.

"In an almost closed area like Beirut with increasingly tall buildings, this leads to a kind of suffocation," Mouin Hamza, secretary general for the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), said in a statement. "Burning waste is suicidal."

Burning waste releases carcinogens and sends poisonous lead and arsenic into the air , a study conducted by the American University of Beirut and the CNRS found.

"At night we can smell very strong gas ," local shop owner Samir Abdelnur told Reuters.

The waste management crisis has seeped from the government to the streets, affecting not just citizens, but also the environment of Lebanon as a whole. If the government doesn't come up with a solution soon, the river of trash might turn into an ocean.

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