An industrial town on Puerto Rico’s southeast coast is considered one of the U.S. territory’s most contaminated regions. Now residents are now demanding a huge clean-up.
SALINAS, Puerto Rico — Shuttered windows are a permanent fixture in Salinas, an industrial town on Puerto Rico’s southeast coast that is considered one of the U.S. territory’s most contaminated regions.
Puerto Rico ranks 22nd out of 56 U.S. states and territories based on total managed waste released per square mile, at 4.2 million pounds. Six of the top 10 municipalities in that category are in Puerto Rico’s southern region, with Salinas ranked sixth, according to data obtained from the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory.
Salinas is a town of nearly 26,000 people — of which 28% identify as Black — with a median household income of $18,000 a year. More than half of its population is poor, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Scientists doing that study were forced to collect samples from individual homes because the government’s water and sewer company at the time blocked access to aquifers that residents in the southeast rely on, environmental activist Víctor Alvarado said. Since then, legislators have approved a law that requires the company to provide access for testing.
Meleroe said she wants answers from federal officials about the contamination in her town. “They write down a lot of things, but I haven’t seen any changes,” she said.
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