A river near Buenos Aires turns red, sparking fears of toxic leak

[MilHojas]

‘It looks like a stream of blood.’ A river near Buenos Aires turns red, sparking fears of toxic leak

A stream winding through a populous area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires has turned crimson red in recent hours that has sparked fears of industrial chemical dumping.

apnews.com

 

[Rich One]

A Biblical curse, the plagues in Egypt ?. Probably caused by dissolved Iron compounds. Many tanneries located upstream use such chemicals .

 

[D.B. Cooper]

It was written up in the NYTimes as well. That's why I buy bottle water.The 12 litter bottle is $6.000,... money well spent.

 

[carride]

It was written up in the NYTimes as well. That's why I buy bottle water.The 12 litter bottle is $6.000,... money well spent.

20L water cooler bottles about the same cost. We have two or more delivered every week
Example:

Buenos Aires Aguas

 

[Redpossum]

This is the sort of thing that a responsible government would crack down on very, very hard. But since this is Argentina, we get this -

"Residents report that the stream has exhibited various unusual colors in the past — gray, green, violet, blue and brown — often with an oily surface. They say they have been filing complaints against local businesses since the 1990s, with several cases of alleged environmental contamination still open."

 

[Roxana]

That color and smell is because of the factories that process the skin of cows to obtain leather.

 

[Redpossum]

That color and smell is because of the factories that process the skin of cows to obtain leather.

That's the current theory, but no lab results have yet been made public. But more important than that, the Sarandi flows into the Rio de la Plata, and that's where CABA gets its water, for drinking and everything else. I don't think that being casually dismissive of this is really a good idea.

 

[Roxana]

That's the current theory, but no lab results have yet been made public. But more important than that, the Sarandi flows into the Rio de la Plata, and that's where CABA gets its water, for drinking and everything else. I don't think that being casually dismissive of this is really a good idea.

Saying this is a long time problem doesnt mean it is not an important issue. These factories started to pollute around eighteen century. For more historical details, feel free to check the history of the City of Avellaneda and its “curtiembres”.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

That's the current theory, but no lab results have yet been made public. But more important than that, the Sarandi flows into the Rio de la Plata, and that's where CABA gets its water, for drinking and everything else. I don't think that being casually dismissive of this is really a good idea.

From a drinking water perspective, the city extracts water midstream from a plant offshore to Ciudad Universitaria which is in the north of the city and this spill is affecting the Rio de la Plata downstream in the south. That's not to minimise the pollution issue but getting the authorities in Provincial to do something about it is likely to be the stumbling block.