????️The Int. Prof. @OrsiYamandu reported that the course of the river is being changed, since it is being dammed in places where there is very little water, a few km from the San Ramón water intake. “We are talking about the Santa Lucía River, which later supplies almost 2,000,000 people,” he said. pic.twitter.com/PkGGbLxfTq
— IntendenciaCanelones (@IdCanelones) February 1, 2023
In Canelones, a sand pit company is well hidden behind a wooden porter on Route 12. Without a sign to identify it, the sand pit is only accessible via a dirt road in the direction of the Santa Lucía River, with no signage. any that indicate that, in there, there is a company.
But, the tranquility of the sand pit, which believed it could cause such an environmental impact without punishment, was altered when it was denounced by the mayor Yamandú Orsi before the Ministry of the Environment for having altered the riverbed and having built artificial truck passages.
The Ministry of the Environment sent a team to investigate the complaint and discovered that the sand pit had caused an environmental impact subject to a fine of 2,000 UR, or approximately 3 million pesos at current value.
From fine to closure for damage to the Santa Lucía River
But what began as an environmental investigation ended as a closure by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, after the undersecretary Walter Verri spoke briefly with the mayor Orsi and discovered illegal mining in the establishment.
The fine and the closure were almost a coincidence. When Orsi arrived at the Executive Tower to present the complaint to the Ministry of the Environment, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, Walter Verri, entered the building and found out about the situation.
There they talked briefly and the MIEM asked Orsi for more details. This led to its subsequent closure.
After the case was resolved, the Frente Amplio mayor reported that the course of the river is being changed, since it is being dammed in places where there is very little water, a few km from the San Ramón water intake. “We are talking about the Santa Lucía River, which later supplies almost 2,000,000 people”said the Canarian hierarch.
