Environmental issues

Dumping of ashes in Arecibo and Peñuelas. This is a big controversy with towns trying to keep them from dumping while getting no support from EPA.
http://www.elnuevodia.com/english/engli … s-2285104/

Some of you has said they want to get involved, here is a cause.

You will be paying for trash collection soon.
http://www.elnuevodia.com/english/engli … y-2285087/

Thank you Rey. I appreciate these links!

Trump is planning on doing away with the EPA, anyway. He has already frozen its web site, twitter accounts, Facebook page, and has cut off all funding for any projects, reports, etc. Permits, findings and studies are frozen. No meetings or presentations are allowed to be scheduled, And the EPA Press Office has been silenced. This info was given to me directly from EPA staff members.

What about recycling here on the island?   I think we have some recycling centers, just need to learn more about how it is done in PR. 

Can anyone educate us?  Tks.

You might be able to find some info here, Sitka:
http://www.recyclingcenters.org/Puerto_Rico/

Speaking of environmental issues, have the landfill situation improved? I heard most of the landfills are not up to code.

They remain not up to code and some have been closed.

It seems like every time I go to the beach, it's closed due to Raw sewage contamination,  when I went to Fajardo, then again in Aricebo.

Those issues should be investigated to determine where the contamination comes from, follow it up river. Likely somebody throwing farm products and dead animals in the river which is caried all the way to the sea. Until they follow up aggressively, it will never been resolved.

Also using the river like a bathroom is a local problem up river.

The typical issue to close a beach is an abnormal growth of bacteria, which usually means some decomposition of some animal or vegetable matter. It is not usually an issue with pesticides or other industrial chemical. It is the actions of the population which causes the issues and they get worse when we had heavy rains because more material in the surrounded areas of the rivers is carried into the rivers.

ReyP wrote:

They remain not up to code and some have been closed.

Because of this I am hesitant to live in PR.

On average 6 beaches are closed for 48 hours, they are not always the same ones. You can still go in the water but it is not safe. To lose use of a particular beach once in a while is not going to ruin my life, but to each its own.
Besides those being closed have a river moth close by which is where the contamination comes from.

There are 270 miles of beaches, if the close a total of 10 miles due to contamination you still have another 260 miles worth.

Is there anyway to get a list of closed beaches on-line?  Or a water quality rating for the beaches?

I find out via the Spanish newspaper El Nuevo Día online but likely there are other sources.

There are flags on the beaches. Coverage is the question, how many popular beaches are checked is unknown to me.

Not all beaches in USA are checked either.

ReyP wrote:

On average 6 beaches are closed for 48 hours, they are not always the same ones. You can still go in the water but it is not safe. To lose use of a particular beach once in a while is not going to ruin my life, but to each its own.
Besides those being closed have a river moth close by which is where the contamination comes from.

There are 270 miles of beaches, if the close a total of 10 miles due to contamination you still have another 260 miles worth.

I am convinced...I am not going to PR.

sloputtputt wrote:

ReyP wrote:

On average 6 beaches are closed for 48 hours, they are not always the same ones. You can still go in the water but it is not safe. To lose use of a particular beach once in a while is not going to ruin my life, but to each its own.
Besides those being closed have a river moth close by which is where the contamination comes from.

There are 270 miles of beaches, if the close a total of 10 miles due to contamination you still have another 260 miles worth.

I am convinced...I am not going to PR.

That is weird, no place is ever totally perfect, but ok

ReyP wrote:

sloputtputt wrote:

ReyP wrote:

On average 6 beaches are closed for 48 hours, they are not always the same ones. You can still go in the water but it is not safe. To lose use of a particular beach once in a while is not going to ruin my life, but to each its own.
Besides those being closed have a river moth close by which is where the contamination comes from.

There are 270 miles of beaches, if the close a total of 10 miles due to contamination you still have another 260 miles worth.

I am convinced...I am not going to PR.

That is weird, no place is ever totally perfect, but ok

Yeah, but with paradise you want perfection as much as possible. I just don't like the idea of being concern about sewage and garbage problems. Especially, when it close beaches.

When I lived in Southern California multiple beaches were closed now and then because of sewage problems.

When I lived on the east coast beaches were closed now and then from sewage problems.

In Texas beaches are closed now and then from sewage problems.

From my experience it happens a lot of places.

Florida has red tide along with lake Okeechobee pesticide overflow. Ocean City, maryland had a case of flesh eating bacteria. I have not heard of any shark attacks in PR

Mrkpytn wrote:

Florida has red tide along with lake Okeechobee pesticide overflow. Ocean City, maryland had a case of flesh eating bacteria. I have not heard of any shark attacks in PR

I believe I read last fatal attack was around 40 years ago, seems they are fairly rare the last attack I know of was a bit over 18 years ago, however they are getting common in Florida an California.

At least on my part of the island I heard more of barracuda attacks than sharks. Most are not reported and mainly to fishermens. Most fatalities at the beach are drownings, specially during this time of the year due to current changes.

Last year a leatherback turtle washed up on the beach with a large shark bite (e.g. kitchen plate size)  out of it.   Gave pause to the surfers here, a big shark had been spotted by a few of the locals along the reef / beaches here.

Hard to bite thru a turtle. But as long as they eat sea creatures and not humans I am fine with it.

There are several issues of my coast as well. Mainly do to improperly handled waste.
Hell, Boston (down the road from me) is nothing but a huge land-fill. And folks wonder why the Harbor has issues...
For years the larger cities in the US used to load cargo barges, run out to sea, and dump.
Thankfully that has stopped. Well, as we know anyway..

Does PR treat their waste before disposing of?
Please... Tell me yes...

Whether or not I land base or water base, one thing is for certain, What 'I' create, 'I' will deal with correctly. As I do here in NH.

ReyP wrote:

Hard to bite thru a turtle. But as long as they eat sea creatures and not humans I am fine with it.

They taste better.. LOL! (not that I know that for certain)

Some turtles are protected, some are not. Turtle steaks and turtle soup are a delicacy in the island.
I had some when I was young.

olddawgsrule wrote:

There are several issues of my coast as well. Mainly do to improperly handled waste.
Hell, Boston (down the road from me) is nothing but a huge land-fill. And folks wonder why the Harbor has issues...
For years the larger cities in the US used to load cargo barges, run out to sea, and dump.
Thankfully that has stopped. Well, as we know anyway..

Does PR treat their waste before disposing of?
Please... Tell me yes...

Whether or not I land base or water base, one thing is for certain, What 'I' create, 'I' will deal with correctly. As I do here in NH.

The sewer is process just like in the states. The problem is mainly due to farming animals close to the rivers and ilegal dumping sites.
Cities have sewer systems and outside of the cities they have septic tank. There is your usual problems when it rains and the sewer system is back up but for the most it is treated and regulated closely.

People put in their own sanitary system and it is not always designed correctly so leakage and blockage can occur. The closer to a river the more can be carried downstream.
In some places the lagoon is also the toilet. A lot of oceanfront property also dump raw seawage into the sea.
People just don't care, they want to do what works for them and the cheapest the better. There are areas where houses are build in the water and their boat is tied to the house, want to guess where their waste goes? I believe La Pargera has several of those.

On a positive note....... only one single beach in the island has the yellow flag this week!!!! In Aguadilla.

Thought this was worth posting in the environment section http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/loca … a-2289454/ talks about the water quality in the metro area due to the drought. The water had higher levels of Trihalomethanes  which are formed as a by-product predominantly when chlorine is used to disinfect water for drinking. Max levels are up to .08 but reported levels were from .089-.150 mg/L.  They're saying it's not dangerous, but it is worth noting. Also explains why the water smelled and tasted a lot more like chlorine from December till now. 

People goes swimming in rivers and lakes(yuck fish poop there) and the sea. While bathing and playing they tend to swallow some of the water. They are fine, once in a while somebody needs treatment but they are only a few. Filtration is key if you want reasonable elimination of some substances and bacteria. The pipes, the chemicals and the general filtration done by towns can only go so far, so add your own.

I have always been a little leery of the water quality in PR.  They say it meets US public health standards, but I have some reservations.   When we experienced some problems with plumbing due to sediment in the water we installed a whole house water filtration system.   I think the water tastes better now and we should have fewer problems that are caused by "stuff" in the water system.

The plumber said it will extend the live of water heaters, ice makers, etc.

At least now we don't need to buy bottled water for drinking and ice.