Rivers in the Media
Toxic spill from zinc mine in the Amazon River
Peruvian authorities say wastewater laced with heavy metals from a major zinc mine has spilled into a tributary of the Amazon, contaminating at least 10km of the waterway.
Pasco regional mining environmental engineer Juan Escalante has told The Associated Press that an unknown quantity of toxic wastewater from the Atacocha mine escaped from a sedimentation well last Wednesday into the Huallaga River. The mine is owned by the Brazilian company Votorantim.
Peru's national water authority granted Atacocha a permit in 2011 to remove metals including mercury, cadmium, lead, iron and manganese from the mine's wastewater and release the treated water into the Huallaga.
Escalante said the area where the spill occurred is in the Andes mountains at about 4,000 metres.
Peru is the world's number two producer of zinc
Brazilian court halts hydro-electric dam project
A federal court in Brazil has ordered the immediate suspension of work on the huge Belo Monte hydro-electric dam in the Amazon. The court says local indigenous people have not been properly consulted. Officials point out that the builders of the dam will be able to appeal against the decision.
Once completed, the 11,000-megawatt dam, in Brazil's Para state, would be the third largest hydro-electric dam in the world.Belo Monte would only be smaller than the Three Gorges in China, and Itaipu which is jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay. The project, which has been heavily criticised by environmentalists, was approved by the Brazilian Congress in 2005, and is expected to flood a vast area of tropical forest.
The government says the dam would make Brazil more self-sufficient in energy, especially in the Amazon region, which relies on fossil fuels for much of its needs. However, opponents of Belo Monte say that the dam will also displace thousands of indigenous people along the Xingu river.
The court says local communities should have had the right to voice their opinion on the environmental impact of the project before the Congress vote.
"A study on the environmental impact of the project was required before, not after, work on the dam started. The legislation is flawed," Judge Souza Prudente told O Globo newspaper.
"The Brazilian Congress must take into account the decisions taken by the indigenous communities. Legislators can only give the go-ahead if the indigenous communities agree with the project," he said.
The building consortium in charge of Belo Monte, Norte Energy, faces a daily fine of $250,000 (£160,000) if it carries on with the work.
The Brazilian authorities say they plan to invest more than $1bn (£640,000) to assist the communities who will be forced to move to make way for the dam.
Green algae spreading in Han River
Seoul City is preparing to spray red clay in parts of the Han River as the amount of green algae present is reaching dangerous levels.
The green algae, first found in large quantities along the northern Han River is now being found in Seoul due to an increase in water temperature and a lack of rain caused mainly by the continuing heat wave. The algae is more likely to spread rapidly in higher temperatures.
The city government said Tuesday that it is waiting for results from the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) on the toxicity of the green algae and for the amount of clay to be spread in the rivers. The city has prepared 12 tons of red clay powder to alleviate the problem.
According to an inspection conducted by the city last Wednesday, high levels of chlorophyll-a, which is a component that indicates the appearance of green algae, was found in three of the water intake facilities in Seoul.
The green algae warning will be issued if the level of chlorophyll exceeds the standard level of 15 in a re-inspection to be held today, the city government said.
Until now, the red clay could only be sprayed in cases of a severe green algae outbreak but since the Ministry of Environment changed the regulations in June, it can now be sprayed even at a warning level which is two steps below a severe outbreak.
“When the red clay is sprayed on the water, it combines with the green algae and sinks to the sea bed. It then dies and is highly unlikely to resurface,” said Lee Soo-hyung, team manager of the water environmental engineering research division at NIER.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to check with the NIER on whether the spread of red clay has any detrimental environmental effects on living water organisms. If the environmental office in control of Han River makes the final decision, the clay will be dispatched.
Heavy rains paralyse Philippine capital
Torrential rain pounding the Philippine capital has paralysed traffic as waist-deep floods trigger evacuations of tens of thousands of Manila residents.
Incessant downpours set off by the seasonal monsoon overflowed major dams and rivers in Manila and nine surrounding provinces and put authorities on alert. The death toll from last week's Typhoon Saola, which battered Manila and the northern Philippines for several days, has climbed to 51.
The head of the government's rescue agency, Benito Ramos, said there are no immediate reports of new casualties after the rains pounded already saturated Manila for more than 24-hours. Vehicles and even heavy trucks struggled to navigate water-clogged roads, where hundreds of thousands of commuters were stranded overnight. Many cars were stuck in the muddy waters.
The La Mesa dam, which supplies water to the capital of 12 million people, spilled excess water for a second time early on Tuesday into the rivers flowing into Quezon city, a middle-class Manila suburb, as well as the neighbourhoods of Malabon, Valenzuela and Caloocan, where several villages are submerged.
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