The local police and the Environmental Protection Unit (UPMA) of The lagoon They are trying to locate the people responsible for an “important” spillage of remains of highly toxic asbestos materials in Montaña el Púlpito, the municipal corporation reported this Monday.
It is an illegal and highly polluting deposit that has been denounced by residents of the area, indicated in a statement in which the agents ask for citizen collaboration to identify those responsible for an act that, in addition to being a crime, has put those who have handled the waste at risk, given the serious toxicity of asbestos and its impact on the health of people, pets and wildlife.
The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, condemns “this attack against the environment and health”, while calling for “collective responsibility both when it comes to reporting these events and properly treating any type of waste ”.
Luis Yeray Gutiérrez values the work that has been carried out by the Department of the Environment through the Protection Unit to avoid, with the collaboration of the Local Police, that this type of situation occurs.
The Councilor for the Environment, José Luis Hernández, comments that it is a spill that goes “far beyond an anti-civic action”, and recalls that it is mandatory to resort to accredited waste management companies for the correct treatment of all waste from construction site.
It continues that, in addition to this “serious case next to a public road, we detected many voluminous dumps of garbage and belongings in rural areas that, clearly, have been moved on purpose to that site.”
The statement explains that UPMA agents very frequently detect cases of comprehensive cleaning of homes and establishments of various economic activities, with all kinds of garbage that is deposited in rural areas.
In addition to residents of the municipality, the evidence collected from the spills also points to multiple origins from other parts of the island, people who transport unseparated garbage in trucks to dump it on rustic soils, where it is more difficult for them to be detected, adds the corporation. municipal.
In some of these interventions, the UPMA has been able to verify that the waste came from works or cleaning for which the services of waste management companies or individuals had been contracted for transport, and with the commitment that the waste would be treated and delivered at the collection points set up for this purpose.
In this way, breaching the commitment acquired and putting the people who generate this waste in a difficult situation, the statement continues.
To help curb these practices, Councilman Hernández asks citizens to “always demand proof that the correct treatment of the waste generated has been carried out from the company that is carrying out reforms.”
It also stresses that the origin of numerous spills has been located and that they have entailed large sanctions that, in this case of Montaña el Púlpito, given its volume and dangerousness, could even imply criminal liability.
Likewise, the mayor requests those who know of a spill in the rural and natural areas of the municipality to notify the Unit by sending, to the email address [email protected]the location, images and all information that may be relevant to identify the responsible persons and thus be able to claim their removal and replacement to the previous state or proceed to act in accordance with the regulations in this regard.
