In an opinion piece for El Sol de Tlaxcala,  Senator Joel Molina Ramirez describes CoolTech’s MG System with the water purification option as a viable alternative to address the pollution of the Atoyac River.

 

The Pollution of the Atoyac River

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2019

JOEL MOLINA RAMÍREZ

Last week, authorities from the three levels of government and popular state and federal representatives met in the presidency of the community of Villa Alta, in the municipality of Tepetitla, with engineer Timothy J. Hassett, Executive President of the Cool Technologies Company Inc., to analyze possible solutions to the pollution of the Atoyac River.

As you know, it is not a new problem; It is a situation that has been aggravated over time by the lack of regulation of urban, industrial and agricultural growth in this region. For many years, controls and standards were discontinued in each of these sectors, and that today has a high cost: diagnoses of people with cancer, arsenicosis, purpura, kidney failure, genotoxic damage or gastrointestinal diseases, and deaths caused by these evils

The ecological damage in the river basin is evident, and the most worrying thing is that, despite the complaints, despite the suffering of the families who have their home here, they close their eyes to this reality, they are silent before this tragedy.

Factors such as inadequate land use, overexploitation of natural resources, and corruption in the construction and operation of industrial drains and treatment plants, have influenced the contamination of water and soil, and with it, increased the risk that It involves exposure to toxic compounds among the population of municipalities such as Tepetitla, Ixtacuixtla, Santa Ana Nopalucan and Nativitas.

Strategies for the appropriate urban and industrial development throughout the basin are urgent, but, above all, the sensitivity of those responsible for public decisions is urgently needed to recognize that we face a problem that requires solutions. And an indispensable solution is to reverse the poor treatment of wastewater received by the basin, both factory and municipal.

It is documented that toxic compounds from industrial corridors and petrochemical complexes in this area are generating high levels of environmental pollution and unfortunate effects on people’s health. Also, that municipal sewer networks receive sewage from denim laundries that connect irregularly. And what happens with this contaminated water? It is used to irrigate crop fields at the edges of the river and its tributaries; It is used to produce food, and this has high repercussions on people’s health. But they close their eyes and remain silent, believing that one day the problem will be solved with significant investments and sophisticated projects.

What we need is will: willingness to recognize the problem, to apply the law, and to help and serve the population.

Dear countrymen: as a senator, I have received requests for help to address cases of kidney disease and hemodialysis of inhabitants of this area, who state with frustration and anguish that there is no real interest in remedying this situation, because there is impunity, and because they do not materialize the projects and investments that the authorities in turn are promised.

The contamination of the Atoyac River is a silent killer, and therefore it is necessary that federal, state and local authorities, as decision makers, and federal and state legislators, as representatives of the people, act within the scope of our competence, coordinated and effective way, without political pretensions.

From this space, I respectfully urge Master Marco Antonio Mena Rodríguez, governor of our state, to support the actions we are taking for the benefit of citizens and the environment. We know that one of your government’s commitments is the rescue of the Zahuapan River, through the investment of 160 million pesos, for the construction and rehabilitation of treatment plants, and an environmental care strategy that will cover from schools to coordination with the municipal governments.

We support this initiative, and that is why we offer the management of economic resources, within the Expenditure Budget of the 2020 Federation, for the execution of projects that attend, in a first stage, the Tepetitla area. We have known the CoolTech company treatment system, which has the ability to purify contaminated water for human consumption, as well as the possibility of a larger project that would have the financial support of a Texas congressman and international associations, which makes us feel optimistic about the viability of the alternatives at our disposal to face this challenge.

The official data are overwhelming: Atoyac is one of the most polluted rivers in Mexico; However, this is hardly an approximation to a harsher reality, which is the pain of families struggling to heal their loved ones, or who lament their loss by neglecting a phenomenon that belongs to all of us.

Thanks for your attention. Until the next delivery.

(En español)
https://www.elsoldetlaxcala.com.mx/analisis/la-contaminacion-del-rio-atoyac-3962798.html