Thursday 9 April 2015

C
ontinuing from the previous entry on water pollution in Port of Spain and environs, more elucidation is necessary for such a sensitive topic. The focus of the previous entry was on Sea Lots and residents of the community polluting the area because of improper waste disposal, and brief mention was made to the industries in east Port of Spain; this entry zooms in further into industrial runoff and water pollution currently occurring in the area.
Based on a document released by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), there are a number of industrial facilities operating in east Port of Spain including Berger Paints, Trinidad Juice Company Limited and National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited, which release waste material into the drains, Black River and East Dry River. The waste eventually makes its way into the Caroni Swamp and the neighboring coastal waters. This contributes to the foul smell that pervades Port of Spain from time to time. The EMA also reported high levels of degraded coastal and surfaces waters in the areas surrounding.
The EMA has now resorted to taking more stringent action regarding the matter and now has begun issuing water pollution permits to facilities operating in east Port of Spain including Vehicle Management Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago and House of Angostura Limited. This permit allows industries only a certain level and type of waste into the waterways. This measure is expected to control the toxicity level and reduce the amount of water pollutants entering the environment and bring relief to the affected communities. The document referred to in this entry is here: http://www.ema.co.tt/docs/Articles/Permits.pdf
The researchers weren't able to collect a picture regarding this entry however we were able to source one from online. This picture was taken by Suresh Cholai who is a reporter.

Residents stand behind mounds of garbage in Sea Lots.
this amount of garbage would definitely find its way into waterways .










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