• Submitted by: admin
• Havana
• Science and Technology
• 06 / 06 / 2007

Old Emiliano Salazar, who lives near Havanas Malecón " as its seawall and the highway that runs along it are known " strongly resists any change to his routine. For years, only a very rainy dawn can keep him from climbing up onto the wall with his fishing-rod in hand. He does it so out of ancient habit, not to procure a livelihood. With the passing of time and the putrefaction of those waters, even the seagulls - which feed on carrion - have left, he comments.

"For a long time, Ive spent the entire day here with my fishing-rod... and nothing, but lately, Ive seen a lot of pelicans around. They rise very elegantly into the air, dive into the water and quickly come out. I feel a little jealous, but you dont know how happy it makes me to see them again in my bay," he says.

ORIGINAL ILLS

During the period of the Spanish conquest, the bays shape changed, after colonial authorities decided to fill in the natural lagoons ringing its coasts and the indigenous mangrove vegetation. With that modification of its ecosystem, soil erosion began in the bay, leading to the formation of sediment. In the early 16th century, when anonymous Spanish navigators arrived in Havanas bay, they immediately had to caulk the hulls of their ships on detecting the presence of tar in the water, something that occurred naturally there, given the existence of very heavy crude oil there.

In relating this fact as part of the history of the coves current state of contamination, several publications that have published articles on the matter also note that in addition to its original ills, it suffered from the emergence of a merchant port, the foundation of the villa in 1519, and the growth of the colonial powers primitive hamlet and trading activities in general. All the while, the inlet and its entire basin were dying little by little.

Then came centuries of blindness to an environmental disaster that has lasted to our very day.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

We know that in the early 20th century, a group of doctors from the island began working toward a clean-up of the bay, specifically because of the consequences of its pollution for public health. During that time, they analyzed samples and found that the level of contamination was already high. But it was only after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 that this issue was evaluated on a larger scale. Environmental agencies were created in the 1970s, and they began specific clean-up tasks with international help.

Some time later, the first interdisciplinary investigation concluded, thoroughly establishing that the Havana bay was one of the most polluted in the world.

Angel Valdés Mujica, vice president of the State Working Group to Clean up the Bay " created by agreement of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers " explains that in 1998, it was estimated that every day, some 33 tons of hydrocarbons from various industrial plants located near the port and 100 tons of organic materials from factories and other urban sites were flowing into the bay.

Under the attentive eyes of the State Working Group, which has an annual budget of just over one million Cuban convertible pesos, and with the financial and technical support of national and foreign institutions, it has been possible to reduce that contamination. This includes, for example, that of the Ñico López oil refinery, one of the largest in the country, thanks to the construction of a barrier that confines hydrocarbon spills to the coastline, preventing them from spreading. A water-cleaning system has also been implemented.

Johanna Socarrás, a specialist with the Working Group, explains that these investments have not been sufficient. It is estimated that achieving zero contamination from residuals and cleaning up the coastal environment will cost about 14 million pesos. At this time, several projects are underway, worth an estimated $1.9 million, which will make it possible to continue reducing the emission of very aggressive substances. At the same time, it will cut the amount of money spent every year by this industry to clean ships that enter the bay, given that oil pollution stains their hulls, and the agency is legally obligated to pay the cleaning costs. In 2006, for example, they paid a company that specializes in this work more than $2 million.

In some industries that create considerable pollution, technological changes have been made that have brought positive results, but based on very costly investments. In others, significant remodeling has been carried out; that is the case with a manufactured gas plant that, in using coal to fuel its production process, was dumping almost 4 tons of tar into the bay every day. During the first stage of remodeling, it began using gasoline instead, and now a gas pipeline has been built that has completely eliminated the aforementioned pollution.

In addition, some 100 manufacturing facilities that continue to empty their waste into Cubas main port via three rivers that flow into different points of the bay are being monitored, an agency collects waste from ships to prevent them from dumping, and a specialized team cleans solid floating waste. A modern container/separator processes the oil or petroleum slicks that previously created a veritable black coat on the water.

Meanwhile, in communities most affected by this pollution, ongoing environmental education is underway, with some contributions from international cooperation.

IMPROVING A RIVERS BAD REPUTATION

While some currents of water drag large quantities of residuals into the bay, none does so to the extent of Havanas Luyano River. The citys sewer system, built in 1915 and designed to manage the wastewaters of an urban area that housed 300,000 inhabitants at the time, now functions with the same capacity for a population of approximately 1 million. That explains why today, that river is a giant drain for the wastewater of the residents of at least seven municipalities where almost half of Havanas population lives or works.

It is a true curse on the once-crystalline river, giving it a very bad reputation that many are trying to improve. And it is not an illusion. At this time, its estuary is witnessing the construction of a residual treatment system, which has financial support from the Italian government (technological equipment) and is being built by Cuban construction workers. It is a set of projects, including a pumping station and two pipelines, which will make it possible to purify 1,000 cubic liters of water per second, according to Geosvany Simón, the State Working Groups deputy director for prevention and clean-up, in comments to Granma International.

A lot of effort is needed to reduce the time required for the systems completion, because - according to the official - it had an "abnormal" start. Work was begun without a technical construction project, and evidently without serious financial estimates, because the initial budget was for $1.3 million, and work done thus far has cost $4 million, with the project only at 40% of completion, he said. That bad start, for such an essential project, also includes delays stemming from disorganization on the part of the builders, frequently affected by a lack of equipment and other irregularities, he added.

ONE MILLION TREES NEEDED

One important line of action for cleaning up the bay is, without a doubt, reforestation of the hydro-regulating strips of land along the rivers that empty into it. The potential for doing so is not the greatest, because 70% of that land is occupied by urban and industrial facilities. However, it is from that strips higher grounds, almost bare of vegetation, that much of the sediment resulting from erosion washes away, landing at the bottom of the bay and reducing its depth.

In order to minimize that harmful element, work has begun on a joint reforestation project with the Ministry of Agriculture and several other agencies and organizations in the country. Leaders of the State Working Group said that studies in that area revealed that almost one million trees are need to repopulate the areas along rivers that flow into the bay.

Encouraging progress has been made in that respect, evidenced by the fact that 60 of the 100 hectares that need to be planted, have been.

Meanwhile, the bays water is still not chemical-free, although the oxygen dissolved in it now amounts to more than 2 milligrams per liter. Under such conditions, there is evidence of life in the bay, except for Atarés Cove (which runs along the coast of Old Havana), where the constant presence of putrid odors is a warning sign on the bays health.

Work continues in this zone, however, with hundreds of clean-up and environmental conservation efforts underway. While the colossal damage wreaked over time here cannot be fixed in the short term, it is very possible that in a few years, the pelican will elegantly spread its wings here, too, and emerge from the water with a fresh fish in its beak.

Source: By Haydee León Moya, Granma Internacional