Before the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Moquegua, lawyer Guillermo Núñez Ventura filed a complaint against the mayors of the district of San Antonio, Santos Villegas Mamani, and of the province of Mariscal Nieto, John Larry Coayla, for the alleged commission of the crimes of environmental pollution and omission of functional acts.
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Núñez Ventura included in the complaint the former regional governor of Moquegua, Martín Vizcarra Cornejo, and officials from the Moquegua Sanitation Services Provider Company (EPS). The accusation is based on the discharge of wastewater from the Omo Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) into irrigation canals in the Moquegua Valley.
“It contaminated agricultural land”
The document submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office indicates that the Omo WWTP expired in 2018 and, due to the lack of any action taken, contaminated agricultural land with wastewater containing lead, mercury and arsenic, posing a serious risk to human and environmental health.