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Thousands of Fish Killed in
Tempisque Contamination
The Ministerio de Ambiente y
Energía (MINAE) - environment
and energy ministry - has yet to
calculate the damage caused by a
devastating contamination of the
"humedales" of the Tempisque
river, located in the Refugio
Nacional de Vida Silvestre
Cipanci.
The contamination alert came
after a group of local
businessmen offering boat trips
in the interior habitat and
marshes of the refuge
encountered thousands of dead
fish and other aquatic life
forms floating in the river.
Emel Rodríguez, director of the
Área de Conservación Tempisque
(ACT), explained that from the
time they received the alert
they have been carrying out
daily inspections of the area.
In addition, the ACT official
said they are collecting samples
for lab tests to determinte the
cause of the disaster.
Rodríguez added, without getting
into details, that they have
sufficient evidence to formalize
a charge against three companies
that operate in the area, who
are responsible for the
contamination to the
environment. The ACT official
said that they have now
sufficient proof to support the
charges that will be
forthcoming.
Residents of the areas of Ortega
and Bolsón located closed to the
afflicted area assure that the
river and the animal that
inhabit the area suffer during
the harvests of sugar cane and
melon.
One resident said that the
companies that operate near the
river take advantage of the end
of year and Semana Santa (Easter
week) to clean out their
machinery and flush out toxic
water into the river, knowing
well that MINAE officials are on
vacation.
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