The mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña asked the media to ‘keep silent’ on the issue of pollution that was caused by the rupture of a Seapal pipeline, he said, it damages the image of Puerto Vallarta a few weeks before of the holiday period.
The mayor said “We took on the task of informing, of meeting with the cameras, with the businessmen, with everyone, to be working together and that we are taking care of the destination because right now Puerto Vallarta is full of tourists. I want to ask all of you to help us take care of our destiny, to work together.”
In addition, he assured reporters that it is not a red alert, despite having spilled tens of thousands of liters of wastewater directly into the estuary and several streets of the city.
However, it is not the first time that the mayor asks the media to keep silent on issues in Puerto Vallarta. Recently, after the demonstration of Uber drivers, he said that these types of shows were not ‘well seen’ and shouldn’t be given attention.
After simultaneous assaults of 2 jewelers in different points of the city, Dávalos Peña also asked the media not to spread the videos so that they did not become viral.
The mayor intends to ‘hide’ the information from the public, so not to damage tourism in Puerto Vallarta, despite the importance of public information to the people who live in the city and elected him as their mayor.
Wastewater pollution on beaches in Puerto Vallarta could last for months
The waste discharged into the estuary and the sea means eight football fields, he calculated a university academic
Contamination by wastewater in the El Salado Estero Natural Protected Area, and its adjoining beaches in Puerto Vallarta, could last for months, until the ecosystem cleans up the excess of organic matter, warned marine ecology teacher Martín Pérez Peña, an academic from the University of Guadalajara (UdeG).
After the environmental contingency that occurred on March 4, in which a 48-inch tube that forms part of the Centro-Norte collector collapsed in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Pérez Peña, one of the members of the Estero El Salado Scientific Committee, stressed that The problem is that the black water continues to flow towards the body of water.
“Imagine a soccer field, you can see that it is about 120 by 70 or 60 meters. Well, they are like eight football fields one meter (high), which are pouring into Estero El Salado every day, “said Perez Peña, who visited the area these days.
On the implications of the accident, the researcher reported that fish that were in a stormwater channel have died. There may be dead fauna, but he did not observe the accumulation of mass and believes that those who could move already did so, as well as the birds.
He explained that domestic waters contain a lot of detergent and other compounds; this decreases the oxygen in the water and the less tolerant animals die. The problem is that if someone gets contaminated and the birds eat it, it enters the food chain.
“We still do not know how much of the compounds or elements that can be toxic are going to remain in sediments (…) Once the water in the Estero is stopped pouring, it will be a good time for the ecosystem to clean up the excess matter organic, “he said.
Pérez Peña, attached to the Department of Marine Ecology of the University Center for Biological and Agricultural Sciences (CUCBA), is concerned about the rainy season, which will wash the sediments and contaminated material will be directed to the channel and the sea.
“They are recording or recording around five thousand units per cubic centimeter. The standard says that they must be 200 units. Then imagine the degree of (contamination) because the waters were raw. “
The university recognized the progress and coordination of local and state authorities around the contingency plan.
He added that the pipes are old, maybe 25 or 30 years, so the response capacity of the authorities is exceeded, sometimes, by the availability of inputs.
“If you had a replacement to put it immediately, we would probably be talking about two or three months this is diluted, but has been such an accumulation, this will take a long time.” To this we must add that factors such as tides and the position of the moon are involved.
“That’s why it’s important to keep track of those critical ecosystem variables and see how they are behaving on time.” Pollutants should also be analyzed in the sediments and planned in a restructuring of the drainage, given that the population in this tourist destination has grown a lot, he said.
The Ministry of Health Jalisco (SSJ) urged the population to avoid contact or submersion in the water of Estero El Salado and its adjoining beaches, in order to avoid health risks such as diarrhea or skin problems.
In this regard, the specialist expects that during the Easter and Easter weeks the load of contaminants will be diluted, although it could intensify during the rainy season.
Regarding fish consumption, he considered that when the water diluted, the probability of accumulation in the tissue of the marine fauna decreases, as is the case of those that move; in the case of the most sensitive, such as oysters, mussels, or mule paw, it should be quarantined for a longer time.
Source: universidad de guadalajara, vallarta daily
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