Diverted sewage to the El Salado estuary in Puerto Vallarta was intentional

The El Salado estuary in Puerto Vallarta received an uninterrupted flow of sewage for three days due to a broken collector of 1.2 meters in diameter, not by accident, but a technical decision, revealed the secretary of Integrated Water Management, Jorge Gastón González, although this constitutes a crime as stipulated in the Criminal Code of Jalisco.

According to the official, when the sanitary infrastructure collapsed, they preferred that the sewage contaminate the protected natural area (ANP) rather than to run through the streets of Puerto Vallarta; However, this resulted in the water from the estuary running out of oxygen, which led to the fish migrating to the sea, elemental microorganisms died for the ecological balance and crocodiles are at risk of becoming ill or even not reproducing, since its nesting season is approaching.

“There are affectations to what is the product of having discharged the sewage, which was necessary because it had to be driven somewhere, it was intentional because somewhere the sewer had to be poured (…) instead of making the runoff from the streets, it was made in the estuary,” said the official.

“We are in the mitigation stage. The sanitation, so that we can return the estuary where it was before the spill, which will help to completely restore the life cycle process of what could have been affected, we already have good conditions right now even in the tourism of the estuary, they already opened it to visitors again”, added Gastón González.

The administration of the ANP and the State Attorney for Environmental Protection (Proepa) filed complaints for the environmental crime that occurred on March 4, as it had alerted the lack of maintenance in the north collector of Vallarta for eight years, but did not receive investment, which collapsed and caused a continuous discharge for three days to the estuary, which also affected the quality of the neighboring beaches.