Under Big and pollution, the combination that most worries
According to a survey in Chacras de la Merced, it is the main problem for the neighbors who live downstream of the plant. 80 percent believe that it works poorly and 83 percent are uneasy about the environmental situation in the sector.
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Most of the residents living downstream of the Bajo Grande Sewage Treatment Plant (Edar) consider that the most troubling and urgent solution is the contamination caused by the malfunction of the plant.
The data comes from a survey of 53 of the 120 families living in the neighborhood of Chacras de la Merced, in the eastern end of the city of Cordoba. The survey was carried out by the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps).
Juan Carballo, executive director of the foundation, explained that sought the opinion of the neighbors of the area, very impacted by the volleys of Edar.
To this plant come all the sewage effluents that, for years, are thrown to the river Suquía with deficiencies in the treatment. In that part of the city, the presence of foul smell is frequent and the Suquía resembles an open-air sewer. The survey was in December and data was processed in March.
Out of the 53 families surveyed, 34 (64 percent) of them gave the number one priority and urgency to the pollution caused by Bajo Grande. Open dumps occupied a second place, with 37.7 percent of responses.
Eighty-three percent of families do not feel comfortable with the neighborhood’s environmental situation.
For the majority of the inhabitants (75 percent), the main concern is the contamination of the river that produces Edar.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of neighbors consider air pollution to be a primary concern, while 26 percent consider it to be the soil, and cause the Bajo Grande plant to be the cause.
The performance
Although most of the neighbors (59 percent) do not know about the work and operation of Edar, 80 percent consider that it is not walking properly.
Regarding the direct effects of the malfunction, 46.5 percent consider it to be the contamination of the Suquía and 42 percent believe that they are the health problems.
At this point, 69 percent said they had any of the symptoms listed: 28 percent diarrhea; 49 percent fever and vomiting; 54 percent abdominal pain; 13.5 percent had bleeding in the stool; 43 percent weakness or fatigue; 16 percent anemia; 35 percent respiratory problems; 32 percent skin rashes; And 40 percent skin infections.
Seventy-seven percent were seen by a doctor after symptoms, and 78 percent were diagnosed of what happened, mostly related to gastroenteritis or allergy.
“It is important to mention the impossibility of proving the causality of the pollution generated by the plant and the symptoms that a large part of the neighbors of the neighborhood present. However, it is necessary to be attentive to the general state of health of the neighborhood, which includes a large percentage of gastrointestinal problems, warns the study.
Finally, the survey detected a lack of knowledge about the Edar expansion, although he believes that the situation will improve. And they consider that there must be instances of citizen control.
What is Edar. The first reports of the lack of treatment of sewage in the Lower Sewage Treatment Plant (Edar) date back to 1998. The residential connections to the sewage network totaled 165,000 and the sewage treatment plant was already Surpassed in its capacity. La Edar, inaugurated in 1987, had been planned for 77 thousand connections. In 2011, an expansion of the plant was enabled, but continues to pollute.
Fuente: La Voz del Interior
