Costambar beach & pollution

[sollie]

Don't know if the beach is polluted or not. Two years ago I venture to say it was not. Ocean World was not completed yet and I wondered what the impact of the marina would be. Could be different today. At that time, while snorkeling, I witnessed an average beach, sea lifewise. What really blew me away was seeing someone catch a bonefish there. I couldn't believe it because it was such an unlikely place. Bonefish are a barometer of water quality, I think. I also saw the harvest of spear fishermen ( boys) and was impressed with their bounty. Is it polluted? Good question.

Sollie

[luzcace]

True, only those who live in Sosua think and wish that their beach is great, not even talking about the rest, just read the local press and see whats going on there.

[Rocky]

If one goes and stands near the small Fortaleza at the West end of the Malecon, one will be given the opportunity to smell the worst polluted water stench of the whole North coast, perhaps the country.
Knowing full well that the next area that water goes to is Costambar, one wouldn't need a university degree nor any "reports", to know that Costambar's beach would take first prize in the poisoned beach category.
If anyone happened to accept some theory about Costambar water's being constantly refreshed, as some type of assurance that the swimming water was good there, then it might be interesting to note that it is constantly refreshed, WITH PORT WATER !!!!
The bogus theory of Sosua's beach being in a cove, therefore somehow being the main birth placed of E.coli and more polluted than Costambar, is laughable, when an 8 year old child would need only stand at the port and smell the water, then sail his wooden toy sailboat over to Costambar, and he would know where to never go swimming.
I sat down recently with Ramon Ortiz, latest retired mayor of Puerto Plata, after his 8 years in office and we had a serious talk about this very issue, and it was from his very lips, from whence came the estimate that if all went well and planned clean up projects were implemented now and in the future, that there would be a hope for Costambar's beach in 15 or 20 years.
All you need is a nose and the knowledge that our North coast waters, move from East to West, to have a definitive accurate evaluation of the intense ocean water pollution in Costambar.

Anyone who would TRULY CARE TO KNOW, may simply go stand there at the West end of the Malecon, and he/she will know where to not go swimming.

PS: Do not lump Cofreisi's waters into this. Different place, different circumstances.
PPS: I do understand that those of you who are property owners in POP or Costambar, have an investment to protect, and I wouldn't even say a word about their inherent problems, if the polluted water were not such a serious health hazard for unsuspecting tourists or newbies.
It simply would not be right.

[Keith R]

We shouldn't have to rely on rumor, opinion, or our noses. As I advocated on the Green Team blog over two years ago, INDRHI, the Environment (SEMARN) and/or Health (SESPAS) Ministry should regularly check the bathing water quality on all DR beaches and publish the data on the internet in a regular, timely and transparent fashion. Enable consumers, residents, visitors and potential investors be informed about the state of their waters and choose where they spend their time and money accordingly.

Several other nations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are doing it already. How long before people ask why they can't get that sort of data in the DR too?

Perhaps once localities have to worry about informed folks knowing what they're actually swimming in, snorkeling in, playing in, and those folks are choosing their vacation and swimming spots accordingly, officials and civic leaders might suddenly have greater interest in getting it cleaned up...

Also as I suggested in that blog post long ago, DR1ers can also go beyond passivity or complaining about it and contribute in their own ways, such as:

• DR1 has readers living/working in Puerto Plata, Sosua, Cabarete, Rio San Juan, Nagua, Punta Cana, Boca Chica, La Romana, Bayahibe, Samaná, Juan Dolio and pobably just about every other major beach, and readers that regularly visit places not yet fully developed like Punta Rucia. Why not volunteer to take samples periodically and record data on beach water conditions on a regular basis for SEMARN and SESPAS, at no cost to those agencies other than providing you with the sampling kits and picking up the samples and data?
  
• DR1 frequently gets inquiries from professionals seeking to find some way to spend time in the DR, if not work and live there (I recall one from a marine biologist, for example). For those of us in the DR with the facilities for it, why not offer a free place to stay for "X" number of months in exchange for a scientist, engineer or researcher to provide his expertise to SEMARN for that period in sampling, monitoring and/or analyzing some area with significant data gaps?
  
• Contact the environment, health and/or engineering departments of the major Dominican universities and volunteer to help fund, man, or otherwise help them put together a monitoring and data-gathering project involving their students, with the condition of your assistance being that (1) the results have to be published and publicized; (2) the data must be shared with SEMARN and any relevant local environment officials.

My two cents.

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by Keith R

We shouldn't have to rely on rumor, opinion, or our noses. As I advocated on the Green Team blog over two years ago, INDRHI, the Environment (SEMARN) and/or Health (SESPAS) Ministry should regularly check the bathing water quality on all DR beaches and publish the data on the internet in a regular, timely and transparent fashion.

I wouldn't hold my breath for transparency.
I wish it could be so, but protecting their #1 industry and meal ticket is way more important to them than worrying about some kid who gets a skin rash or whatever.
However, your following point is spot on,

Perhaps once localities have to worry about informed folks knowing what they're actually swimming in, snorkeling in, playing in, and those folks are choosing their vacation and swimming spots accordingly, officials and civic leaders might suddenly have greater interest in getting it cleaned up...

and it is the true solution.
Someone or some persons will have to spend the money and take the time to make it happen, but there are inherent problems.
Let's say for example that some good concerned citizens decide to attack the Costambar problem and the best result they could expect is to have clean swimming water in 15 years, I don't think that the government would appreciate nor tolerate the bad publicity for said period of time.
The person or persons responsible for exposing the problem to the public might get forcibly silenced.

[POP Bad Boy]

Originally Posted by Rocky

I sat down recently with Ramon Ortiz, latest retired mayor of Puerto Plata, after his 8 years in office and we had a serious talk about this very issue, and it was from his very lips, from whence came the estimate that if all went well and planned clean up projects were implemented now and in the future, that there would be a hope for Costambar's beach in 15 or 20 years.
[/size]

LET Ramon state his feelings and thoughts for himself. I 100 PERCENT DOUBT THAT YOU WILL GET MR. ORTIZ TO BACK UP YOUR STATEMENT. He and his family were at the beach all day on Mother's Day and he has at least 2 different family members that live in Costambar............

[POP Bad Boy]

Originally Posted by luzcace

True, only those who live in Sosua think and wish that their beach is great, not even talking about the rest, just read the local press and see whats going on there.

....."SO SEWER" for nothing................

[cabaretesunshine]

Gentlemen - Gentlemen! I had no intention to reopen old wounds, create animosity or to stir up what has become a town-bashing. I simply asked for the truth TO DISPEL A RUMOR and find that a few of you prefer to argue among yourselves rather than to provide substantiated facts. If I wanted a "he said"/"she said" response, I would take to rumors. Which I do not. Let's just drop this and go on about our tropical lives. Can we?

[Keith R]

Agreed. Those frequenting Costambar evidently think it's fine, and point fingers instead at Sosua. Those from Sosua think their water is fine, and point fingers at Costambar.

My guess is that regular, careful, scientific sampling and testing of waters at both beaches (indeed, several popular beaches) would find that the water quality not as good as people think. But short of such sampling/testing, we have only rumors, opinions, suppositions.

Thread closed.