No need to be alarmed: NEPA testing samples from Rio Cobre

The discolouration of a section of the Rio Cobre that triggered alarm among residents of Bog Walk on Monday has been downplayed by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

The agency said a team of investigators responded to the residents’ concerns on Monday but did not observe a noticeable change in the river. Notwithstanding this, Manager of Public Education and Corporate Communications at NEPA, Ollyvia Anderson, said the team collected samples at different points of the river for testing.

“The agency has an established monitoring plan that requires that quarterly water-quality sampling, upstream and downstream, are collected for laboratory testing that generally determine a number of parameters,” Anderson told The Gleaner.

A resident who goes by the name Germaine, told The Gleaner that at about 10 a.m. on Monday, July 17, 2021, he noticed white substance running into the river in the vicinity of the bridge near the police station.

“I don’t know who to blame because you have two other factories in the area, but what we see this time is not the bauxite company, because it wasn’t red dirt,” Germaine said.

He added: “This river is very important to everyone in St Catherine and even Kingston for water, but for us, we depend on it for our living, and over the years, because of the pollution, all the fish dem dead out, so we have to turn to other hustling,” Germaine, who gave up fishing to operate a small chemical shop on the riverbank, said.

DWINDLING FISH POPULATION

Omar McCloud, who also retired from fishing and is now selling fruits, said that the contamination of the river over the years has caused the fish population to dwindle.

“I have been fishing in this river for 20 years and never have to do anything else to tek care of mi family. Mi could go out every day and catch enough river perch to make enough money, but now mi can’t survive off this because mi nah catch nothing,” McCloud revealed, adding that fishers can earn $300 to $400 per pound for perch.

McCloud said efforts by the Fisheries Division to increase the fish population were not working.

Anderson said the matter of recurring pollution that has contributed to the reduction in the fish population can be attributed to a number of anthropogenic factors, such as industrial activities, impact of farming, watershed degradation, and flows from other tributaries.

She said permits and licensing regimes must be regulated to mitigate these impacts.

Meanwhile, a case management conference is scheduled for July 26 in the ongoing matter between NEPA and the Ewarton-based WINDALCO Bauxite company over an alleged effluent spill into the river in 2019.

NEPA alleged in court filings that effluent from the bauxite company overflowed into the Rio Cobre killing a number of fish, thus impacting livelihoods.

A spokesman at WINDALCO told The Gleaner that the company had nothing to do with Monday’s pollution.

Likewise, Richard Pandohie, CEO of Seprod Group, which operates the former Nestlé plant in Bog Walk, insisted that his company is not responsible for the pollution of the river.

“Everything goes into our waste treatment plant. However, I really hope it can be resolved in the interest of the residents who have suffered so long, many of whom depend on the river for survival,” Pandohie said.

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