New River, same old problems - the April heat is on, and Orange Walk residents have been complaining that the stench emitted from the river is as bad as it's always been around this time. For years, the Orange Walk residents have had to deal with this annual issue with no solution in sight. And every year, the Department of Environment says they are monitoring the situation, which is exactly what they told our colleagues at CTV3. The Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, Edgar Eck, stated that they have been testing the river and admit that it is in a deteriorated stated. But while the stench is bad, he reassured the public that the Hydrogen Sulfide levels are not concerning.
Edgar Eck, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, DOE
"We continue to conduct monitoring of the river. Last week we were out on the river and measuring the different parameters and we still see very low levels of oxygen in the river which is not supportive of aquatic life at this point in time. There is also parameters that we monitor as well which are not good as well. So the river basically is in that state, experiencing deterioration. We also managed to bring in our sensors to measure Hydrogen Sulfide because there were some complaints about the stench the odor that was coming out. So we managed to get some readings on that. Basically the readings that we managed to get are in acceptable ranges."
Reporter:
"You mentioned in the report as well that the 4ppm was recorded near BSI, are you able to say why that is the case?"
Edgar Eck, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, DOE
"Probably because there is the composition of different nutrients and things that's within the river. And so it varies on where that is happening."
Reporter:
"Is there any concern that this number will continue to rise?"
Edgar Eck, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, DOE
"We're not expecting it to rise, nevertheless we will continue to monitor as every week we're out in the field monitoring so that is one of the things we were going to monitor and inform people about."
Reporter:
"Is that the highest over the years that this has been happening?"
Edgar Eck, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, DOE
"2019 We recorded higher numbers. I think the highest we recorded was around 15 or something to that effect."
