Paraíso de Dios Begins Lead Clean Up Project

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Jaime David Fernández Mirabal and Richard Fuller, President of the Blacksmith Institute have begun the task of cleaning up the lead contamination in the area of Paraíso de Dios, Haina

The authorities visited the area where the Metaloxa battery factory once operated. They were accompanied by Sandra Castillo, in charge of health and a representative of the Paraíso de Dios Residents Organization,

The authorities visited the area where the Metaloxa battery factory once operated. They were accompanied by Sandra Castillo, in charge of health and a representative of the Paraíso de Dios Residents Organization, and Ernesto Reyna, deputy minister for Environmental Management along with other representatives of the Haina Townhall.

Mr. Fernández Mirabal said the removal of all contaminating material would be included in the lead clean-up activities. He announced that the contaminated area will be filled in then covered with a layer of vegetation upon which will be built an ecological municipal park to be used by the community for recreation.

Mr. Fuller, from Blacksmith, along with the Environment Ministry participated in series of preliminary studies to determine the magnitude of the problem; their work was based on an agreement and a plan that provides for the clean-up and restoration of areas negatively affected by lead.

Fernández Mirabal assured the people of Haina that when the visit is over, he intends to fulfill his responsibility and commitment as Minister of Environment. He reiterated his promise to continue to respond to the call of the area´s well organized communities and to do something to improve the situation, to which President Leonel Fernández is also committed.

Sandra Castillo, of the Committee to Eliminate Lead Contamination in Paraíso de Dios thanked the Environment Minister and other concerned visitors for their intervention and help in definitively resolving this problem. She stressed that this is the first time the authorities had made such an agreement with the community.

The Paraíso de Dios neighborhood has one of the ten highest rates of lead contamination in the world. The high levels of lead are the product of bad battery recycling on the part of the Metaloxa factory which is now closed down.