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Fishermen in Rio De Janeiro Use App to Record, Report Water Pollution

News Feed
Friday, September 6, 2024

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - All it takes is a boat trip around the Guanabara Bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro to spot oil or chemical substances that have been dumped into the waters forming part of the world-famous landscape that includes the Sugar Loaf Mountain, numerous granite monoliths and the captivating Christ the Redeemer statue.Moved by the environmental impact, non-governmental groups 350.org and the Association of Men and Women of the Sea of ​​Guanabara Bay - Rede Ahomar created an app for local fishermen to record and report this pollution.Since it was launched at the end of July, the app, called De Olho na Guanabara, or Eye on Guanabara, 70 users have registered themselves. Data from 350.org shows 27 complaints have been analyzed and made public while another 126 have been submitted for analysis.Alexandre Anderson de Sousa, a fisherman and president of Rede Ahomar, said the app had been tested for over two years.In addition to fishermen, residents and environmentalists in the region can also share photos and videos of suspected spills of oil or chemical substances that will be shared with authorities, along with information about their location."Each report on the app is an alert to the entire Brazilian society that one of its postcard landmarks is dying to feed an outdated fossil fuel production system, which, on top of it, also worsens the climate crisis," said Luiz Afonso Rosario the campaign coordinator from 350.org.Giselle Menezes, water quality manager at the Rio De Janeiro environmental institute, Inea, said areas of Guanabara Bay have been showing progressive improvement, following investments in the basic sanitation network.In addition to verifying complaints, she said the institute was also carrying out its own monitoring and inspection.Scientists found that sea turtles in the area were getting healthier after struggling for years with a tumor disease that hampers movement, sight and feeding, and ultimately kills them.(Reporting by Renato Spyrro; Writing by Marta Nogueira and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by David Gregorio)Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

By Renato SpyrroRIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - All it takes is a boat trip around the Guanabara Bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro to spot oil or...

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - All it takes is a boat trip around the Guanabara Bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro to spot oil or chemical substances that have been dumped into the waters forming part of the world-famous landscape that includes the Sugar Loaf Mountain, numerous granite monoliths and the captivating Christ the Redeemer statue.

Moved by the environmental impact, non-governmental groups 350.org and the Association of Men and Women of the Sea of ​​Guanabara Bay - Rede Ahomar created an app for local fishermen to record and report this pollution.

Since it was launched at the end of July, the app, called De Olho na Guanabara, or Eye on Guanabara, 70 users have registered themselves. Data from 350.org shows 27 complaints have been analyzed and made public while another 126 have been submitted for analysis.

Alexandre Anderson de Sousa, a fisherman and president of Rede Ahomar, said the app had been tested for over two years.

In addition to fishermen, residents and environmentalists in the region can also share photos and videos of suspected spills of oil or chemical substances that will be shared with authorities, along with information about their location.

"Each report on the app is an alert to the entire Brazilian society that one of its postcard landmarks is dying to feed an outdated fossil fuel production system, which, on top of it, also worsens the climate crisis," said Luiz Afonso Rosario the campaign coordinator from 350.org.

Giselle Menezes, water quality manager at the Rio De Janeiro environmental institute, Inea, said areas of Guanabara Bay have been showing progressive improvement, following investments in the basic sanitation network.

In addition to verifying complaints, she said the institute was also carrying out its own monitoring and inspection.

Scientists found that sea turtles in the area were getting healthier after struggling for years with a tumor disease that hampers movement, sight and feeding, and ultimately kills them.

(Reporting by Renato Spyrro; Writing by Marta Nogueira and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by David Gregorio)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Lawsuit says PGE, Tillamook Creamery add to nitrate pollution in eastern Oregon

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of residents in Morrow and Umatilla counties, says nitrate pollution from a PGE power generation plant and from a Tillamook cheese production facility has seeped into groundwater, affecting thousands of residents in the area.

A new lawsuit claims Portland General Electric and the Tillamook County Creamery Association contribute significantly to the nitrate pollution that has plagued eastern Oregon for over three decades. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of residents in Morrow and Umatilla counties, says nitrate pollution has seeped into groundwater, affecting thousands of residents in the area known as the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area who can’t use tap water from private wells at their homes.PGE operates a power generation plant at the Port of Morrow in Boardman and the Tillamook County Creamery Association, a farmer-owned cooperative known for the Tillamook Creamery at the coast, operates a cheese production plant in Boardman. The two plants send their wastewater to the port, which then sprays it through irrigation systems directly onto land in Morrow and Umatilla counties, according to the complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Oregon.PGE and Tillamook transfer their wastewater to the port despite knowing that the port doesn’t remove the nitrates before applying the water onto fields, the suit contends.PGE’s spokesperson Drew Hanson said the company would not provide comment on pending legal matters. Tillamook Creamery did not respond to a request for comment.The new complaint follows a 2024 lawsuit by several Boardman residents that accused the Port of Morrow, along with several farms and food processors of contaminating the basin’s groundwater. The others named are: Lamb Weston, Madison Ranches, Threemile Canyon Farms and Beef Northwest.A state analysis released earlier this year shows nitrate pollution has worsened significantly in eastern Oregon over the past decade. Much of the nitrate contamination in the region comes from farm fertilizer, animal manure and wastewater that are constantly and abundantly applied to farm fields by the owners of food processing facilities, confined animal feeding operations, irrigated farmland and animal feedlots, according to the analysis by the state and local nonprofits. Those polluters are also the main employers in eastern Oregon. Steve Berman, the attorney in the newest case, said PGE and the farmer cooperative were not included in the previous lawsuit because their impact wasn’t previously clear. “We keep drilling down into new records we are obtaining from the regulatory authorities and activists and analyzing how groundwater moves in the area. Our experts now tell us these two entities are contributing as well,” Berman said. 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