Slow clean up for Argentina’s worst environmental stain

Villa Inflamable, Argentina (AFP) May 3, 2011 – Along the Riachuelo river, one of the world’s most polluted waterways lying south of Argentina’s capital, many residents suffer from skin and lung problems and lack drinking water or sewers. “This is what’s killing us all,” said Eduardo, an inhabitant of the poor neighborhood of Villa Inflamable, pointing to the Dock Sud petrochemical center, alleging oil refineries tip chemical waste straight into the water. Riachuelo, a waterway of 40 miles (64 kilometers) along with its main Matanza tributary runs from western Buenos Aires into the Rio de la Plata and is Argentina’s worst environmental stain. Eduardo works in a neighborhood cooperative trying to clean the river, piled high with junk and the detritus of human existence. Every day, members carry out the grim task of collecting plastic bottles and empty jerrycans from the murky, smelly waters. The Supreme Court called for an official plan to clean up the basin in 2008, but recent public hearings showed the goals have not always been met. Open rubbish dumps have even increased in the area, from 141 in 2008 to 348 at the end of 2010 when they were due to have disappeared, according to an audience in March. … A sickening stench still wafts from the stagnant waters and factories over Villa Inflamable, where humble houses and mud streets swiftly become bogged down on rainy days. “I can’t open the windows of my house due to the smell, though it’s a bit better now because of the cooperative cleaning the river,” said Nancy, a mother of three who lives in Villa 26, a nearby settlement known as Villa Richauelo. …