Herbicide seized at polluted river site

Herbicide seized at polluted river site
WITH A STATE of emergency in effect in Azuero and 150,000 people without safe water, Panama’s Attorney General’s Office has seized 100 bags of the herbicide atrazine from a company in Herrera which has not been named.

 The seizure is part of the investigation into the pollution of La Villa River, which has cut off water to people in Azuero.
On June 21, samples taken from the river near the intake to the water treatment plant in Chitré were normal, but a week later dangerous levels of atrazine were detected.
The contamination was traced to the company where the seizure was made.
On June 30, officials began warning residents not to drink the water or use it for cooking. The treatment plant kept producing wáter for use in toilets and for cleaning.
Officials have declared a state of emergency in the area and have been distributing cases of water and dispatching tanker trucks that are getting filled by wells and rivers that are not impacted by the pollution. Officials have installed portable water treatment plants at those sites.
Prosecutors said that the investigation is continuing, reports La Prensa.