Environment
‘Sweeps’ Coming to Guanacaste in April and August
(InfoWebPress) – The increasing pollution of rivers throughout Costa
Rica will be one of the main concerns addressed by the Environmental
Court this year, and that’s why this entity will dedicate two of its
“environmental sweeps,” or inspections, to detect violations in this
area.
Lino Chaves, president of the Ministry of the Environment’s (MINAET)
administrative tribunal, said the first “sweep” will take place in
March, focusing on the pineapple plantations in the Caribbean region
— where a number of complaints have been filed due to alleged cases
of creek and river contamination, among other infractions.
Additionally, the Environmental Court has scheduled another
inspection in June related to river pollution in San Jose’s
metropolitan area, where several Pacific watershed rivers become
highly contaminated. To reinforce these efforts, the court this year
has added a new judge, Jose Luis Vargas — who until last December
was director of human environment for the Ministry of Health and who
has broad experience in issues of wastewater, pollution of
tributaries, and atmospheric pollution.
Inspections on coastal regions will continue throughout 2009, with
three scheduled for the Pacific and one for the Caribbean.
Guanacaste’s Nicoya Peninsula will be inspected in April, while the
cantons of Filadelfia and Carrillo will be visited during August.
Another “sweep” will take place in Limon (Caribbean) in October,
with the final inspection scheduled for December in the southern
Pacific areas of Drake Bay and the Dulce Gulf (cantons of Osa and
Golfito).
“We hope that these environmental sweeps will contribute to the
country’s progress in solving serious problems such as river
pollution and disorganized development on the coasts,” said
Yamilette Mata, one of the tribunal’s judges. “We believe Costa Rica
is capable of bringing order to these two areas.”
Only in 2008, the Environmental Court opened a total of 461 new
cases, according to a year-end report prepared by this entity. This
represents a 50 percent increase in the number of complains
processed by the court compared to 2007, when 303 cases were entered
into the system.
Moreover, the number of adjudications completed during 2008 was much
higher (a total of 1,055), as the court moved to resolve or continue
cases that were pending from previous years.
Included in these are some of the most important cases in early
2008, such as the environmental damaged caused to Guanacaste’s Palo
Verde National Park by government agriculture and irrigation
agencies; the wastewater pollution case against Cooperativa Dos
Pinos dairy; the case against Hotel Allegro Papagayo in Guanacaste;
and the case against Quimicos Holanda chemical company due to a fire
that polluted groundwater at its Limon plant in 2006.
Nearly half the complaints the court hears are related to
deforestation and damage to water resources, while the other 50
percent has to do with illegal earth moving (particularly for real
estate developments), mineral extraction and clandestine garbage
dumps, among other infractions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
