Locals of El Gallo, a neighborhood in Liberia, Guanacaste have a stinky problem that they fear may be hazardous to their health. Every day this town sees 10 or 12 dump trucks carrying fecal matter and sewage, which is deposited into old septic tanks. Spillage is common either due to the poor state of the tanks or the fact that they are not well closed.

Costa Rica News — More Sewage Problems in Guanacaste

Even though the tanks are located 3 kilometers from the center of town, and the local elementary school, residents say the stench is overwhelming. One of their main concerns is that during the rainy season, there was noticeable runoff from the septic tanks into the Colorado River, where much of the community gets its well water.

Even though the community filed an official complaint for “the crime of Environmental Contamination against Public Health” to the Heath Ministry in December, the trucks have continued to come. According to the Fraternal Association of Guanacaste (HAG), once the complaint was made, the trucks simply went to a nearby farm and deposited the waste elsewhere, near the Cano River.

The waste is thought to be coming from tourist hotels on the coast of Guanacaste and the Papagayo peninsula, among several other sources.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on January 17th, 2008