Neighbors of the El Socorro farmhouse, in Güímar, have been complaining for months about the noise and gas pollution produced by an asphalt company very close to that urban nucleus, located in the Valle de Güímar Industrial Park. Despite the continuous complaints, expressed weeks ago on social networks, it was not until last week that Raquel Díaz, Councilor for Citizens in the City Council, asked about it in the municipal plenary session, when the Güimarero government group has decided to take the matter to the Government of the Canary Islands, because, according to the Socialist councilor Beatriz Perdomo, “we had no news of this contamination”, something that surprised the orange spokesperson.
“We have a problem in Güímar. For weeks the residents of El Socorro have been breathing this, every night the asphalt factory releases environmental residues, the smell wakes them up and what they are breathing is extremely dangerous toxic. Toluene, hexane or phenol, all carcinogens that cause problems in the central nervous system, “said Raquel Díaz, who took the complaints of the neighbors and the reports of specialists to the municipal plenary session.
According to Díaz, “the smells, noises and gases are produced especially at night and this seriously harms the neighbors, who can hardly sleep,” said the mayor, who hopes that “the response from the Government of the Canary Islands will arrive as soon as possible. possible, because it is not only a matter of remedying discharges into the sea, but also discharges into the air, as much or more dangerous for the inhabitants of El Socorro ”, he commented.
The same pollution may be being suffered by the residents of the nearby neighborhood of Playa La Viuda, in Candelaria, according to the Neighbors for Candelaria party, which on Thursday took a motion to the plenary session, approved unanimously, in which it proposed to request, implement and apply improvements in the systems and methods of sampling, detection and measurement of air quality, bathing water and noise pollution in Playa La Viuda.
The mayor Alicia Marrero recalled that “the residents of Playa La Viuda also suffer the effects of air pollution, produced by its proximity to the Valle de Güímar Industrial Park, which includes all types of companies, from practically all industrial sectors, and that they sometimes affect the residents of the coastal area with strong smells and nocturnal noise ”.
“On the other hand,” he adds, “it makes no sense that the point of measurement of atmospheric pollution closest to the industrial estate is located in the upper part of La Hidalga, in the municipality of Arafo, when our neighbors live next to the polygon, where all kinds of companies are located, some chemical or asphalt, and they lack detailed and close information on the quality of the air they breathe ”.
Therefore, VxC proposed to the Plenary, with unanimous approval, to take periodic measures, applying the municipal ordinance on the protection of the environment against the emission of noise and vibrations, with the available means, in addition to demanding control of the emission of gases to the Government of the Canary Islands.
