Costa Rica Issues Red Alert Following Ammonium Nitrate Chemical Spill [Breaking]
UPDATE: As of Sunday afternoon, the Costa Rica chemical spill has been downgraded from a red to yellow alert, with authorities saying that swimmers may again enter the water, according to La Nación.
Costa Rica’s government has issued a red alert after a large quantity of ammonium nitrate was leaked into a body of water near Puntarenas, according to a press release from the country’s national risk prevention and emergency aid commission (CNE).
Facing intense winds on Saturday, a barge carrying 180 tons of ammonium nitrate capsized in front of Puntarenas, which is one of Costa Rica’s largest settlements. The site of the spill is within the Gulf of Nicoya, which has caused the majority of the beaches where tourists and locals flock to be closed down for at least the next several days. Translated below from Spanish, the CNE cautioned that tests were still being performed, and therefore beachgoers should avoid the water until the reach and toxicity of the spill can be fully determined.
“This measure was taken with the purpose of avoiding people who get into the water suffering some kind of damage generated by the substance. The authorities hope that the chemical will have diluted into the gulf’s waters and that the marine currents carried it toward the open sea. However, it is necessary to realize a series of laboratory tests to eliminate any effect that it could generate.”
Declaran alerta roja por derrame de nitrato de amonio en el estero de Puntarenas. http://t.co/8GsrlFrhyr #TN7 pic.twitter.com/9SHlUUTXbK
— Telenoticias (@telenoticias7) May 3, 2015
Although Costa Rica is a relatively small country, and the area where the chemical spill occurred in is nearly landlocked, government agencies are still performing a series of maneuvers in order to assure that the situation is accurately assessed, according to the CNE press release.
“For today, there will be a fly-over with the purpose of measuring the impact, which will take samples that will be taken to the National Water Lab, and which will take several flights over the areas and settlements that may have been affected. Also, it is asked that swimmers and the population in general avoid contact with seawater, with no fishing of any variety in the zone outlined in this alert… Medical institutions are offering screenings for symptoms associated with the event. For the day, authorities will be updating information about the situation and taking new action according to the event’s behavior.”
Those hoping to fish from the Costa Rican waters near the chemical spill are being cautioned to avoid their routine activities. Reports of dead fish have caused panic in some of the regions that have not yet come under red alert from the government, according to the Costa Rican Star.
Authorities are hoping to contain the ammonium nitrate chemical spill to the Costa Rican waters it has already infected, without spreading deeper into the gulf or further south along the country’s Pacific Coast.
[Image via La Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE)]
