Producers from several locations in the Lima Region denounce the loss of more than 600 tons of trout and the cessation of their economic activity.
Source: RT in Spanish
The accident of a truck loaded with 34 tons of zinc concentrate, recorded early Monday morning in the province of Canta, in the center-west of Peru, has caused an environmental disaster after the waters of the Chillón river were contaminated, which has severely affected the fish farms in the region and their economic activity.
The president of the Defense Front of Canta, Elmer Páez, told the local media this Wednesday PTR that the mineral poured into the river has dyed its waters a dark gray and has caused the death by poisoning of some 600 tons of trout that fish farmers from localities such as Cullhuay, Obrajillo, Paraíso, Trout, Pariamarca, among others, had in their hatcheries.
This is how the zinc concentrate spill affected the fish farms in the Chillon River basin, the damage is worrying, we need the urgent intervention of the authorities. pic.twitter.com/BlGw9K6f2O
– @GomeroOsorio (@GomeroOsorio1) June 14, 2022
Páez added that the peasant communities presented a criminal complaint before the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of Lima, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Environmental Evaluation and Enforcement Agency by the pollution caused by mining in the valley of Canta.
The social leader explained that about 120 vehicles transporting heavy minerals from the mining companies of Cerro de Pasco travel through the province of Canta daily, and that in many cases these fall into the waters of the Chillón River, which are used for human consumption. , agriculture, fish farming and livestock.
Given the seriousness of the matter, the peasant communities, fish farmers and the local population announced that They will close the national highway Lima-Canta-Huayllay as a protest measure to demand the immediate intervention of the Government of Pedro Castillo.
According to the reports local media reports, the important shipment of zinc ended up being dumped into the Chillón River —one of the three tributaries that run through the Lima valley and which pours its waters into the Pacific Ocean—, after a freight transport from the Huari Service company, a subcontractor of the Volcan mining company, overturned and fell into the tributary at the height of the Huaros district, in the Chicrín-Cullhuay section.
Samples collected in the river
The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation reported on Tuesday that, through the National Water Authority (ANA), attended “the environmental emergency that arose in the upper area of the Chillón hydrographic unit” as a result of the zinc concentrate spill.
According to the Peruvian Executive entity, the supervision was carried out the same day by “professionals from the Chillón Rímac Lurín Local Water Administration, with the support of the Cañete Fortaleza Water Administrative Authority”, who measured the pH, temperature and electrical conductivity “at four surface water sampling points”.
The next day, the ANA details, the authorities took other samples in the accident area, which will be sent to a laboratory accredited by the National Institute of Quality to analyze “physical and chemical parameters.” Its results “will be compared with the environmental quality standards for water” approved by the Environment portfolio.
?? The @ANAPeru Cared for the environmental emergency in the upper area of the Chillón hydrographic unit, located in the Huaros district, as a result of the zinc concentrate spill that occurred at kilometer 24.70 of the Canta-Huayllay-Cerro de Pasco highway. pic.twitter.com/0ueykpLVLp
– ANA Peru (@ANAPeru) June 15, 2022
The ANA added that the report with the results “will be shared with the entities involved, including the Peasant Community of San Felipe de Cullhuay.” For its part, the Drinking Water and Sewage Service of Lima (Sedapal) he pointed that the environmental accident will not affect the supply of drinking water in the districts of Lima Norte, because at this time of year they are supplied by wells.
