Due to the oil spills, the excess nutrients from the wastewater that ends up, and the accumulation of plastics on its shores, Lake Maracaibo “is reaching an ecosystem collapse” as a result of the 100 years of damage it has suffered. , explained the expert
Graciela de los Angeles Portillo | Radio Faith and Joy
The Clima 21 organization warns that the environmental situation in Venezuela is very unfortunate, since in the long term it endangers the ecosystem and violates the human rights of millions of people: climate change, mining and oil spills are some of the problems that face the country.
Alejandro Alvarez, coordinator of Climate 21, said that between January and June 2023 they have managed to count, by monitoring the media, 40 oil spills between Lake Maracaibo and Golfete de Coro; but they warn that there may be many more. He assured that previously there was greater control of oil spills than at present.
“We cannot measure where one begins and the other begins,” he said on the program. First hand of Radio Faith and Joy News.
On the other hand, Álvarez recalled that oil spills in Lake Maracaibo have been occurring for years with what is known as the blowout; moment in which an oil well began to release oil for nine consecutive days, without any type of control.
Due to the oil spills, the excess nutrients produced by the wastewater that ends up there, and the accumulation of plastics on its shores, Lake Maracaibo “It is reaching an ecosystem collapse”product of the 100 years of damage it has suffered, explained the expert.
This, according to him, now becomes much more evident “because it is already perceptible to people who are not technicians.”
Álvarez added that since the 1980s there have been warnings about the situation of the lake. «You already had an idea that there is a part of the lake that was already dead; that is, it did not contain enough oxygen to support life there,” he commented.
emergency declaration
Several Zulia environmental organizations have expressed the need to declare Lake Maracaibo in a state of emergency due to the mix that currently exists between oil spills and the proliferation of microalgae that give the lake its green color.
It should be noted that experts from the University of Zulia have determined that it is a situation that can cause health problems such as vomiting, diarrhea and respiratory infections, especially in those people who live on the shores of the lake, who are more exposed.
Regarding this announcement, Álvarez considers that it has to come with a series of clear actions for the restoration and recovery of Lake Maracaibo, which must include the control of oil spills, since in recent years there has not been a contingency plan. .
“Recently there was news of PDVSA and the Ministry of Ecosocialism cleaning up a beach. What needs to be done is a maintenance and control of the pipes that are under the lake; a job to reactivate all contingency plans, “Alvarez emphasized.
He also questioned that an unpleasant mixture between oil and waste is seen in the lake. “We must control that the waste does not go to Lake Maracaibo. There are organizations that are making a huge effort but it needs to come from society and the State, and all the sewage must be stopped from being dumped into the lake”, he said.
Alvarez assured that “we are elements of the environment” and that “when we destroy the environment we destroy ourselves.”
*Read also: Bachaquero and San Francisco del Zulia municipalities cause more oil spills in the Lake
Post Views: 165
