Given the overflow of wastewater into the Las Iguanas wetland, the company intervened by the Superintendency of Public Services, operated by EPM, is sanctioning process that must be complied with in view of the situation that was verified in the kings bridge and dismayed tourists because this area It was declared by the Land Management Plan and by the environmental authority of the District as an area of environmental interest.
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The engineer Jaime AvendanoDirector of the Administrative Department of Environmental Sustainability, Dadsa, made some clarifications about the response given by Essmar-EPM, at the opening of the process environmental penaltydue to the dumping of wastewater in the middle of the tourist season to the Las Iguanas canal, located in the El Rodadero spa.
Being consistent with what the mayor said Verna Johnsonwho in days gone by evidenced the overflow; The head of the environmental authority indicated that the facts demonstrate the technical inability of Essmar-EPM.
The district president Virna Johnson, spoke with the representative of the Superintendence of Public Services.
“Do you think you are responsible, committed to the quality of life and the well-being of the community and environmental care to see that people are bathing on the beach front and not notify?, or?coordinate with authority, so that they collaborate so that people are not there receiving the water? What would have happened if the event was recorded in Medellín? How would EPM respond to Public opinion?” Questioned the engineer Jaime Avendaño.
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The Director of Dadsa specified that the conduct of the assistant manager of Aqueduct and Sewerage of Essmar, Juanita Torres, “demonstrates absolute lack of technical capacity to be able to execute an action protocol with the presence of pressure suction equipment at strategic points in the The Rodaderowith the aim of immediately addressing possible increases in flow levels that may arise due to this affectation”.
Jaime Avendaño, Director of the Administrative Department of Environmental Sustainability, Dadsa.
He added that “there is a complete ignorance of the Colombian regulations in environmental matters and provision of the aqueduct and sewerage service, when noting according to the film evidence, that the company instead of opting for the use of pressure suction equipment, decided to pump the wastewater to the Las Iguanas canal; which can never be an action within the framework of a contingency plan, since dumping in this area is prohibited by the standard; since it alters the quality of the water in this body of water, which is just a few 50 meters from the bay of El Rodaderothus generating a risk to the health of bathers due to direct contact with this type of water, becoming a severe and negative environmental impact”.
The head of the environmental authority of the District added that the company showed a complete indifference to batherssince he never articulated with the Dadsa, some support in regards to close the beach due to the entry of pollutantsaction that is foreseen in a properly formulated contingency plan.
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He noted that the negligence of the company Essmar-EPM, not only generates an environmental impact on the city and puts thousands of tourists and their own at risk; but it also affects the image that has positioned Santa Marta as the main tourist destination par excellence in the country; situation that puts at risk the thousands of families that derive their livelihood from the exploitation of this economic activity which annually generates large dividends in the commerce, restaurants and the hotel sector.