Residents have denounced the contamination of rivers such as Santa and Plata, among others, apparently due to alleged mining tailings in the Tablachaca tributary, located in the province of Pallasca (Áncash). In response to this, the environmental authorities of the region have taken immediate action.
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Due to the emergency, representatives of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, the Environmental Police, the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Water Authority, the Irchim Users Board, Sedachimbote, Sunass, the Chinecas Special Project, the Provincial Municipality of Santa, the District Municipality of Nuevo Chimbote and the District Municipality of Santa met in the town of Chuquicara.
Among the agreements are the Analysis of water quality at the La Huaca and La Víbora de Chinecas intakes, from where water is captured what is used for agriculture and the production of drinking water for Nuevo Chimbote. After taking samples, the results are expected to be ready. Within a maximum period of five days, around the presence and concentration of heavy metals.
The analyses were delivered to the Colecbi SAC laboratory, a specialized entity certified by the National Quality Institute.
The manager of the agro-export project, Horestes Palma, indicated that Chinecas, with the aim of safeguarding public integrity and health, made the decision to close the floodgates of its intakes on Tuesday night last-
Meanwhile, the manager of Sedachimbote, Carlos Effio, said that the contingency plan for natural disasters has been activated, with the aim that, while the Chinecas gates are closed, The Nuevo Chimbote Drinking Water Treatment Plant is supplied through the La Variante auxiliary canal, which extracts water from the Lacramarca River, in order to avoid shortages.
“The corresponding tests have been carried out and the water from our treatment plant is fine. In addition, when the water is collected from the La Variante canal, the analysis will be carried out before the water reaches our wells, so that the population does not have to worry about the liquid being contaminated,” he said.
In turn, the Provincial Municipality of Santa will provide drinking water, through tanker trucks, to Chuquicara and surrounding towns, which are supplied directly from the Tablachaca River. Support will also be provided to the population centers of the district of Santa, which consume water directly from the Chinecas canals.
They ask for investigation
The authorities of Ancash requested the Environmental Assessment and Oversight Agency (OEFA), the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation and the Ministry of Energy and Mines toInvestigate and severely punish those responsible for this attack on health and the environment.
“I express my concern about this environmental damage that contaminates the waters of the Santa River and that would affect the health of the population of my district. More than 200 thousand inhabitants could be affected and we cannot allow this to happen.” said the mayor of Nuevo Chimbote, Walter Soto.
