A petition demanding that local and state authorities intervene and put a stop to the discharge of wastewater onto the beach and into the sea at Zicatela has been gaining traction in recent days.
Launched five days ago by change.org user Jessica Camino, the petition is titled Alto a las aguas negras sobre las playas y mares (Stop sewage on the beaches and seas), and is addressed to Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat and the state’s environmental protection attorney, Ernesto Ruiz.
Camino claims that the five water treatment plants in Puerto Escondido are at maximum capacity, “without maintenance and not working properly.”
She said Puerto’s infrastructure is overrun due to having to serve 60,000 inhabitants and 2,000 visitors per day on average.
She cited the Zapata sewage holding tank, located in the Brisas de Zicatela area near the coastal highway.
Camino said that “every day, residents and beachgoers experience the inconvenience of witnessing and smelling the trail left by these wastewater [spilling from the tank] until they reach Zicatela Beach.”
Zicatela, she continues, “is emblematic in Puerto Escondido,” noting that it has also been granted clean and sustainable beach certification by Semarnat, the federal Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
Camino denounced that “nothing is being done” to properly protect Zicatela Beach and its certification.
“The polluted water that reaches the sea unimpeded sickens and kills thousands of marine animal species, some endangered,” she continued, “not to mention that there have already been cases of hepatitis and stomach or skin infections due to swimming in polluted waters of the region.”
The online petition had garnered the support of over 14,400 people by mid-afternoon Monday and the number was rising steadily. Its goal is to obtain 15,000 signatures.
El Sol de Puerto
