Another poisoned water crisis in Azuero

AN EMERGENCY Operations Center has been set up in Azuero  and the use of water has been banned in 14 districts of the districts of Chitre, Las Tablas, La Villa de Los Santos and Guararé because of a “high level” of the herbicide atrazine in the La Villa river 

Health Minister, Francisco Javier Terriente made the announcement at at a hastily called press conference on Thursday night.
The 14 districts in which the suspension of water consumption is requested are: Chitre, La Arena, Monagrillo, San Juan Bautista, Llano Bonito, La Villa, Los Olivos, Santa Ana, Llano Largo, Las Tablas, El Carate, El Cocal, Guararé and La Enea.
Terriente said that the authorities of the Ministry of Health (MoH) were made weekly measurements from Julyand all showed a level below 1 part per billion.but this week it jumped to 13 parts per billion “Although this is a low-toxicity, the detected levels are now above the limits accepted by Panama,” he said.
Asked about the causes of elevated levels of atrazine, Terrientes said the MoH, the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) and the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) are conducting investigations to determine who is responsible for the situation, as the MoH had suspended the use of atrazine in the area.
An operational support program has been launched including the distribution of water to every home under the 14 community boards and the respective municipalitiesthe operation will continue until the daily tests indicate that the situation returned to normal. “From this time, the distribution of 50 000 cases of bottled water to supply every house begins,” said the MoH in a statement.
Water samples will be taken every 24 hours until there are no detectable levels of atrazine