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Report on
The Municipal Council Meeting
of May 2, 2007
Written By: Sandy Shaw - Secretary Fuentes Verdes
First, a Big Thank You to all who came to the meeting last night to lend their support to our efforts to urge the council to contribute financially to the recycling center and make a priority of the building of a sanitary landfill. Your presence was impressive to the members of council.
Second, special thanks go to Gloria Dempsey and Cathy Nicholas in Arenal; Evelio Carvajal in Piedras; Luis Pablo Murillo in Tierras Morenas; Stephanie Lombardo and Rosa Soto of Sabalito; Mara Mordini in Parcelas; and Helen Hollenbeck, Ademar Sanchez and Mariano Monge in San Luis/Tronadora for their heroic efforts in getting over 400 signatures to the petition in such a short period of time.
Aside from Fuentes Verdes members, several other significant people were there: Sr. Edgar Badilla who initiated and has been running the recycling project in Tilarán virtually without help for the past three years; Sr. Carlos Vargas, a neighbor of the dump, who spoke most eloquently about the horrendous conditions there; Lic. Eddie Alvarado, former district attorney of Grecia and environmental law specialist who pointed out the laws that the municipality has been breaking in its management of the dump; and the media, represented by Alex Murray for the Tico Times and Juan Pablo Barquero, correspondent for La Nación.
It is worth noting that, among the information presented at the meeting, was the crucial fact that the dump is sitting on top of a large underground aquifer. There are visible springs, which the trash pickers, who have built little huts around the dump, are using for washing, cooking and drinking. The seepage from underneath the dump empties into the Quebrada Cabra, from where it flows into the Río Santa Rosa, which flows by Tilarán, on to the Río Corobicí, and thence to the Southern Canal that supplies irrigation water for food crops in the lowlands. The same water is used by the big tilapia farm in Cañas. As Sr. Vargas stated, it’s not just a few nearby farmers who are affected by the contamination caused by the dump, but potentially thousands of people.
We reminded the council that the Ministry of Health has been ready for years to close the dump with the first public complaint. The complaint has arrived, with the publication of the story in last week’s La Nación. We also reminded them that members of FV, along with every pertinent institution represented in Tilarán, has been urging the municipality to build a recycling center for seven years.
The reaction of the council was predictable in that they promised nothing. They did say that, in addition to donating the use of the land next to the municipal bodega, they have agreed to provide sand and rough stone (lastre) to the building of the recycling center. Read, “no cash”. They also said that they are continuing to meet with the other municipalities to find a new location for the sanitary landfill, and that they have established a special budget for emergency measures at the dump – which include moving more dirt around to cover things up and spraying gallons of insecticide over the site to try to control the flies. Neither of these measures, of course, solves the basic problem.
True to form, the mayor, Sr. Jovel Arias, called on FV for help in coming up with solutions. We told him we are not technical experts, but that we’d be glad to meet to identify areas where we could be helpful. Hilma Jenkins added that FV is ready to contribute financially to the recycling center when a budget for the building is available. So far, the building plans are still on the municipal engineer’s desk awaiting approval. (Already two of the wind plants have donated over $5000, and more donations are expected.)
A neighbor of Tronadora offered the concrete suggestion that the municipalities hire an engineer with the technical expertise to help them both find an appropriate site for a sanitary landfill and clean up the current dump so that it meets environmental standards. The council did not take up this suggestion with any particular enthusiasm.
FV President Ed Yurica offered the specific motion that the municipality exercise control over new construction to assure that the legal requirement that houses be equipped with a separate tank and drain field for gray water is being met. We’re confident that council member Enrique Jenkins will follow through to push this to a council vote.
It is not unusual for the council to not take any immediate decisions after such a presentation. But we accomplished what we hoped to, namely, call public attention to the problem and activate a small public furor in the wake of last week’s article, as well as let the municipality know that the canton’s only non-profit environmental group will not remain silent while we have such a huge problem in our back yard.
A very positive mini-meeting took place outside with several FV members, Sr. Vargas and the environmental lawyer, in which we were asked to write a letter to MINAE and the University of Costa Rica requesting a thorough technical study of the dump, cost of same to be borne by Sr. Vargas. Coming from a non-governmental organization, such a request will have more weight than if it were made by a private citizen. We said we would be happy to work with the environmental lawyer on a draft of this request.
Again, thanks to all for making Fuentes Verdes a bigger and more effective organization!
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