The sanitation alarm sounded by Uruguayan authorities last week in the southern Ciudad de la Costa, the country's fastest growing urban center, came two years after residents, experts and activists warned of the problem. The National Environmental Directorate (DINAMA) announced Oct. 27 that the city's sanitation system is on the verge of collapse. Ciudad de la Costa, outside Montevideo, grew from 34,400 people in 1985 to nearly 80,000 today — and does not have an operational sanitation network.

This situation was denounced by hospital authorities in 2000, and even before by neighborhood groups and water experts, Carlos Surroca, of the environmental group REDES, told Tierramérica.

Sewage is contaminating the underground water reservoirs and causing health problems. And high levels of fecal matter are found in the area's beaches on the Rio de la Plata, according to DINAMA.