Dangers of wetlands pollution exposed
NRA truck dumping sludge into the wetlands (Photo courtesy Cayman 27 – click to enlarge)
(CNS): The National Roads Authority (NRA) conducted tests on samples of waste dumped into areas of wetlands around George Town, and a laboratory in Florida found that they contain carcinogens. The NRA was caught on camera by the TV news this summer dumping the sludgy material it cleans out of stormwater wells into the wetlands, which may have been happening for years, according to recently released board minutes from the Water Authority. Following the revelations by Cayman 27, the Water Authority took samples and sent them to a US lab, where Benzo(a)pyrene was found, along with other potentially harmful “semi-volatile organics” and other pollutants.
The Water Authority minutes show that the chemical pollution is likely to have come from vehicle emissions that had been flushed into the drains during rainy weather.
“There is insufficient information to confirm that the presence of semi-volatile organics in the sludge samples is directly related to the well-cleaning waste,” the Water Authority said in the minutes. “However, it is likely that the semi-volatile organics in the sludge originate from vehicle emissions that are deposited on the surface and are flushed into the stormwater drainage wells after rainfall.”
The authority said that inert materials such as concrete and sand, which do not decompose, had also been dumped into the wetland areas.
The minutes confirmed that arrangements have now been made to ensure that the sludge which the NRA was pumping into the wetland habitat will now go to the George Town landfill, where it will be deposited in a special purpose-built trench.
Before 2007, the NRA disposed of material in the wastewater treatment pond at the Water Authority’s wastewater treatment works. However, the Water Authority stopped this practice because it was concerned that the NRA trucks could possibly collapse the embankment of the pond when driving on it, according to the authority’s minutes.
When the Water Authority stopped accepting it in 2007, the Department of Environmental Health initially gave the NRA permission to deposit its waste at the landfill. But permission was later withdrawn, though it has never been made clear why. After that, the NRA began dumping the sludge into the wetlands off the Linford Pierson Highway.
Category: Environmental Health, Health, Land Habitat, Medical Health, Science & Nature
Can we test the garbage juice that the DEH trucks leave all over the roads too!?! As a pedestrian it is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable the amount of this nasty stuff is left on the roads on collection days! FIX YOUR TRUCKS DEH!!!!!!
That dump is UNLINED!! Meaning every single dribble of every decomposing thing is leaching into our environment.
Once Dart finally remediates it, it will STILL be seeping into the ground and all of the surrounding areas.
If you don’t believe me just take your SUP around to the edge of the North Sound where it meets the dump. But don’t stay too long!!!!
Where do all the septic companies dispose the crap they pump out?
They dispose of it in a special lined disposal area (sewage beds) behind the dump.
Lined you say, really? Just like the old sewage ponds which leaked like sieves?
What ever happened to the cancer registry?
Plus, there must be leaching into the water that is used for our drinking purposes. Reverse Osmosis equipment only gets rid of certain contaminants.
Does the Water Company test for these cancer causing compounds?
Yes on a regular Cayman schedule, once every year, or 18 months, or maybe when something comes up they might get raked over the iron shore for.
5:33 another big cause of cancer could possibly be from all of the 55 gallon drums of DDT that were dumped into the Dykes Island wide years ago. I want to say the 50’s – 60’s. They were trying to control the mosquito population not realizing that DDT lasts for up to 100 years!!
DDT is now banned in many countries worldwide due to the high cancer causing risks. Unfortunately we dont find out these things until “after the damage is done”. Another high risk factor was the Spray plane –
“Which is basically a crop duster” using heavy based chemicals years ago spraying over our homes, animals, crops, wetlands, etc. When sprayed it would end up in the guttering and cisterns of the older homes which was a common supply of both household water and even used for drinking! For every action there’s a reaction and unfortunately we may be paying the price of it by not taking care of our precious environment by proper management and planning for our future.
I wait to see the comments blaming the government. Start living greener and utilizing our recycling resources people!!
NRA is government.
Cancer ‘cures’ are big business – maybe we can cash in on this?
I have seen these NRA trucks on the side of Linford Pierson highway but I always thought they were taking water out of the ponds to spray / wash the roads. Did not expect that they were dumping waste water!!!
3:46- I’ve always seen them there too as well as other areas on island. Seems that our Govt should test various areas of wetlands throughout the island to see how bad this contamination is. Caymans Geological formation has lots of underground caves and small cavities and for such a small island it wouldn’t surprise me how far its travelled.
Q. What is the ecological difference between dumping this waste water out along ETH or pumping it out on top of the adjacent unlined trash mound to leach out? One way or another, it goes back into the same canals and out into North Sound. Neither option seems very smart to me.
Good point.
this place toxic…just the other day i observed the neighbor pumping his septic dry into payrick island canal…uggh disgusting…no wonder so much cancer???
Video and send to DEH!
Send to CNS
and what will they do?????
CNS will expose the incident.
some of the sewage companies are dumping the waste they collect into ponds as well….
smell prospect when a southerly wind!?
1:38, if you are so sure of this then why won’t you report them???? Its our environment here………not just for you or me but for the health of our future generations! Action is louder than words!
Benzo(a)pyrene is very common. We inhale it daily from car exhaust fumes along with many other similar compounds. It is also produced when tobacco is smoked or wood is burnt.
Benzo(a)pyrene is also found in jerk chicken and other grilled foods where meat can potentially blacken.
We have damage control mechanisms built into our DNA to combat it.
Thank you. People will fear monger over anything. People burn bush inna dem yaad daily and no one freaks out about the benzopyrene left behind in the ash in the soil.
Water Authority is another offender. When the old sewage ponds were desludged where did all that sludge contaminated with something worse go? Exactly, right on the dump. And following a hurricane, C&D waste is stockpiled around the island and subsequently gets set a light. Arsenic and chromium from burned pressure treated lumber waste is a far bigger concern and exists all over the island, and in places thought clean. There seems no concern over this? Before growing stuff in some muck you bought from Joe Developer or Trucking company it is wise to get it tested for heavy metals.
The authorities in charge of this are run a muck, no pun intended. They are mandated by laws which they themselves break daily. They won’t point the finger because they’re all part of the problem.
You signed up for the material to be placed there.
Remember that.
DOE tested it and concluded it is safe. There were no project quality controls and many questioned sampling procedures.
Enjoy your rectal cancer…
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/putrefying-protein-and-toxifying-enzymes/
Ive always found it to be a bit of a pain in the ass.
Why don’t you spread it on your sandwich every morning if it so common?
More than 100,000 chemicals are now found in our foods, drugs, personal products and everyday items, with about 1,000 new ones introduced every year.
Genes load the gun — environment pulls the trigger.
Even if we eat well, exercise, and try to manage our stress, our detoxification systems are very challenged to keep up, if not completely overwhelmed. One of the body’s main detoxification pathways is methylation, and this can be affected by a genetic mutation called MTHFR.
Any mutation in the MTHFR gene could create a serious weakness in one’s body when it comes to detoxification–and many other vital health functions.
40 to 60 percent of the general population has one or more MTHFR mutations.
So, yes, our bodies were designed to detox on its own. They weren’t designed though to function in an toxic environment. Even if you have no Mthfr Gene mutations, at some point your body’s ability to detox would be compromised.
I’m not trying to imply it’s harmless.
I’m just saying you’ve likely eaten or breathe more of it in the past week than you will ever be exposed to through this dumping..
Have you been to the dumping site? You can see fish swimming perfectly fine. No dead animals there.
DNA Methylation is NOT a ‘detoxification pathway’.. LOL. What an armchair scientist.
Taken straight from the first google result:
DNA methylation is a process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule. Methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing the sequence.
This in turn regulates natural RNA and protein production.
I had to keep going, this comment was too funny:
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/MTHFR
The MTHFR gene provides instructions for making an enzyme called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. This enzyme plays a role in processing amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.
NOT DETOX LOL!
Smart a$$! Do you even know what you are talking about? Do you know what you don’t know??
Methylation is involved in more than 200 enzymatic reactions and occurs billions of times per second in our cells, contributing to detoxification, DNA repair, energy production, mood balancing, glutathione production, and control of inflammation.
“Maybe if we revert back to our life a few hundred years ago, detoxification wouldn’t be important. But now, we have disrupting chemicals that our body doesn’t know how to eliminate. And they are everywhere….
Detoxification is also a very broad term. Supporting your methylation cycle is one way to boost your glutathione and help detoxification…”
http://geneticgenie.org/blog/2013/02/02/why-support-methylation-and-detoxification-our-ancestors-didnt-need-to/ ( Why support methylation and detoxification? Our ancestors didn’t need to)
One poster linked to National Health Institute.gov
The other linked to “genetic genie” .
Hmm wonder who is more credible..
Is it any wonder we all get cancer on this island?? Disgusting!!
So will you stop driving your car? This run-off is going into drainage wells EVERY time it rains.