Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Córdoba Residents Protest Dump

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 20 2008 (IPS) - Residents of Bouwer, in the central Argentine province of Córdoba, are protesting a large garbage dump that city officials intend to maintain in the city until 2016. Protesters have hung signs stating: “Danger: contaminated area” next to traffic lights along the national highway 36 to let visitors know about the problem.

The measure “will not stop the decision to extend the contract with Cliba,” the waste company, “but at least we are getting word out about what is happening. We have animals that are dying and the smell is terrible,” resident Mónica Rescala told Tierramérica.

The dump, opened in 1982, receives 2,000 tons of waste each day. According to the municipality of Córdoba, 96 percent comes from that city. The Foundation for Environmental Defense says it is “one of the most contaminated places in Argentina.”