Environment Minister Edgar Gutiérrez and Health Minister María Esther Anchía are waiting for a report from an inter-agency team on the situation at La Carpio sanitary landfill in La Uruca.
Last weekend, there was a complaint about the collapse of a slope, which would have generated a nauseating smell in the surrounding residential areas and the fall of polluted waters to the Virilla river bed. Faced with this situation, Dr. Anchía went to the site to make an inspection, after the affected neighbors contacted her.
Following the complaint raised by residents of the Residencial Cariari, I went to the place on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. and I was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Environment and legislators William Alvarado and Javier Cambronero, and we saw from the margin of the river what had happened in the landfill La Carpio. We were able to perceive the smells the neighbors complained about… Technicians were given orders from the Ministry of Health to make an inspection of the landfill and the area to be able to have a complete report and to be able to analyze the dimensions of the situation as a whole (…) and its environmental impact,”
said Anchía.
Minister Gutiérrez said that this is a recurring theme, but it must be taken into account that part of the responsibility lies with the Costa Rican population in general, which does not make an adequate treatment of waste from the homes.
I asked the Environmental Administrative Tribunal, SETENA, the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) and the Department of Water to make an inspection with the Ministry of Health (…) The neighbors had already filed a complaint a long time ago, and the Environmental Administrative Court had scheduled a hearing for August. This is a recurrent problem, the neighbors have been complaining for a long time, but of Friday there was a landslide and they filed the complaint,”
said Gutiérrez.
The idea is to have a report and thus determine if any mitigation measures have to be taken, but both Minister Gutiérrez and Dr. Anchía did not dare to venture on the possible alternatives that could be taken and what would the company be exposed to. They said they should wait for the technical report, which will have to be ready within a period of no more than 24 hours.
In the morning, Norman Sequeira, Director of Community Relations and Public Relations of Ebi Costa Rica, in charge of the sanitary landfill Uruka Environmental Technology Park, said that the impact of the landslide was in a small area of 35 x 40 meters, equivalent to 0.67% of the area of the property, and was due to heavy rains on Friday and that no trash reached the river.