QCOSTARICA — The Agrarian Environmental Deputy Prosecutor’s Office is investigating three officials from the Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) – water and sewers utility – in relation to the water contamination that affected several cantons at the beginning of the year.
It is believed that the officials, with the surnames Ramírez, Quesada and Díaz, were aware that the water was adulterated with hydrocarbons, yet they allowed distribution through the aqueduct pipe between January 22 and 25.
Read more: Xylene (Xileno), the contaminant found in Costa Rica’s GAM drinking water
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On Tuesday, the Public Ministry carried out three raids to collect evidence to investigate the possible circulation of poisoned or adulterated substances and arrested the officials.
Read more: AyA and the Ministry of Health spend a week trying to find what contaminates the water in San José
The contamination caused several individuals from the impacted regions of Goicoechea, Moravia and Tibás, including minors, to present health problems such as skin irritation, difficulty breathing and gastrointestinal problems. The judicial investigation is for the crime against public health.
In the days following the original signs of water contamination, the situation later expanded to the districts of Montes de Oca (San Pedro) and the central canton of San José.
Although the officials under investigation are not currently suspected of having planted the xylene in the water supply, they were in charge of determining the safety of the water before it is distributed from the Guadalupe Potable Water Plant.
Edwin Marín, AyA sectional president of the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP) believes that the institution should have reacted more quickly.
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“We believe and insist that the authorities in Guadalupe did not do an adequate job, nor did the National Water Laboratory and much less the administration. A precedent must be set and those guilty of not doing their job as they should have,” he said.
What has AyA said about the investigation?
In response to the investigation, AyA president Juan Manuel Quesada said that in May of last year, the institute sent a report to the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) with information on the contamination found in studies conducted by the University of Costa Rica (UCR).
He added that this was done “with the purpose of fully collaborating with the investigation and with the firm hope that those responsible for the contamination will be found.”
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