Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee approach to pollution

A large red slick  moved into the Bay of Panama near Punta Paitilla on  the morning of Monday, April 23, says La Estrella, which carried a supporting photo.

Authorities did not arrive in time for an inspection because they had no reports of the complaint. A maid said she noticed the strange colored sea while walking her employer’s dog in the park adjacent to the Union Club.

The National Environmental Authority (ANAM) said they had no reports of pollution, and if there was a substance spill in the sea it was up to the Aquatic Resources Authority (ARAP) to make inspections and monitor contaminated sea water. ARAP was also unaware of the discharge of the substance said the publication,

Two inspectors from ARAP (a biologist and a chemist) arrived at 11:00 am, but the stain had gone, with the ebbing tide.

Hendrick Source,  the chemist, said that at low tide  it is difficult to take samples of the substance because it dissolves easily. If it was oil it would float on the surface or be attached to rocks, the expert said. But the biologist Alexis Pena, did not rule out that the spill originated in the  river, which meant that ANAM woild be responsible for monitoring the site. There have been previous contaminations in the bay. In 2006, about 450 gallons of juice concentrate to went into a  plant storm drain, which emptied into the Vista Hermosa  creek and reached  to the Bay. The Supreme Court of Justice issued a  $300,000 fine.

Raisa Banfield, of the Environmental Advocacy Center, said spills have recently been reported in Amador and Chame and she  is concerned that  environmental authorities are not carrying out proper inspections.