River now clean, no finding yet in Dangriga pollution

Health officials have now sounded the all clear and Dangriga residents are off the beer and bottled water diet. But tonight, officials have still not drawn any solid conclusions as to what contaminated the river there on Friday. Mayor Cassian Nunez was in the middle of the aqua-disaster and today described the scene he saw and smelled, Friday afternoon.

Cassian Nunez, Mayor, Dangriga

“By Saturday morning we could…Friday, there was an intense odor and if you were near the river, even your eyes, if you were sensitive to that, you could feel it sting. But by Saturday some of that it had diminished significantly and I believe late Saturday night they switched back from the well water back to the main river because the tests were pure according to what the officials were saying. But still I haven’t received any chemical, definitive chemical, what was the problem, which exact formula was in there, that combined so effectively to cause less oxygenation in the river why the fish died.”

Cecil Arnold, environmental affairs officer for the Del Oro Company in the Stann Creek Valley, told News Five that so far their investigations have shown that their company was not responsible for the contamination of the river on Friday. Officials from the Department of the Environment were in the valley this afternoon inspecting the company’s leachate ponds, and a detailed report of DOE’s findings is expected to be filed Tuesday morning. On Friday afternoon, residents of Dangriga reported to News Five that the fish and other river life were rising to the surface and then dying and told us of a strong stench, like that of citrus peel, emanating from the water. The Public Health Bureau subsequently advised residents not to eat any of the fish taken from the river and WASA switched its intake from the river to a back up well.