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Look at the fish bottom left....looks like a pleco (suckermouth catfish - from TT and South America)
Rio Cobre fish kill: NEPA begins action against WINDALCO
BY PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR Environment editor williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, August 07, 2011
THE National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has taken the first step toward legal action against the West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco), which it blames for the recent fish kill at the Rio Cobre in St Catherine.
NEPA boss Peter Knight and the agency's manager for the enforcement branch, Richard Nelson confirmed that the regulator agency on Friday submitted summons and documentation to the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court in order to secure a date for the hearing of the matter.
Dead fish seen along the bank of the Rio Cobre on August 30.
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NEPA said once the court date was received, the bauxite company would be served papers concerning breaches of both the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) Act and the Wildlife Protection Act.
The alleged breach under the NRCA Act, Nelson revealed, concerned the discharge of trade effluent into the environment without the requisite licence, while the reported breach under the Wildlife Protection Act had to do with allowing a toxic substance into a water body that contains fish.
NEPA said that preliminary water sample test results were showing that the Rio Cobre had a pH level of 11.2 on August 30 when the fish kill was detected.
"Some species or most animals can tolerate a very narrow pH. Too acidic (below seven), they die and too alkaline (above seven), they die. Our results were 11.2, (which is) very close to 14... That level was very alkaline and resulted in the fish kill," Nelson told the Sunday Observer.
He added that the presence of sodium hydroxide, an alkaline sodium compound used by bauxite companies in their operations, had likely caused the water's alkalinity.
He noted that the yellow-brown discolouration of the water, observed during their site visit, also pointed to this.
"Aqua green is the normal colour of the Rio Cobre. When it is raining heavily, Rio Cobre takes on a copper colour. What we were seeing when we got there was a coloration that was yellow going towards brown, a typical sign of high caustic in the river," he said.
NEPA is also awaiting the results of tissue sample tests, which are being undertaken by Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
"We are pretty sure that the fish died because of the high level of caustic in the water, but it is always good to do a post-mortem on the animals to confirm fully," Nelson said.
At the same time, NEPA has ruled out a lack of oxygen as the source of the fish kill, saying: "The dissolve oxygen level was OK. It was at 7.25, which is normal for the Rio Cobre. So that immediately said that the fish did not die from a lack of oxygen," he noted.
Windalco has, in the interim, broken its silence on the matter, indicating that the company had launched an internal investigation and would present their findings to the regulatory agencies.
"Additional measures have been instituted to ensure that there is no threat to the domestic water supply," the company said in a press statement issued Friday and signed by managing director Leonid Stavitsy.
"We are aware of the concerns surrounding the Rio Cobre Watershed and its aquatic life. We wish to assure the public that all measures are being taken to safeguard their welfare and address any issue which may be related to the operation of the Ewarton Works Effluent Holding Pond," the statement said.
The fish kill last weekend at the Rio Cobre — a source of not only fish for consumption, but also for drinking water — has prompted an outcry from both fishers in the area and other members of the public, expressing concern for the health and possible financial implications of the death of several fish and shrimp that were found floating on the river.
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