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Polluted beaches in paradise
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Posted on Oct 05 2000
The Issue: Weekly reports of polluted beaches around the island is a serious matter.
Our View: These advisories need enforcement to protect the general public from serious illnesses.
Every week, the Division of Environmental Quality issues an advisory of polluted beaches around the island. These advisories almost always include warning about fecal coliform bacteria in affected beaches. People are warned not to swim or fish within 300 feet in these areas.
It is surprising though that residents and tourists alike still frolic in these waters, not to mention fishing in the lagoon. Does it require a report of people being hospitalized for serious illnesses before advisories are enforced? Is there an agency responsible for enforcing these advisories for health purposes? Or is it just one of those things where it’s really up to individual residents and visitors to take heed?
The Garapan Area is especially vulnerable to pollution from water runoffs from Mt. Tagpochau estuaries. The water flows from the mountain top and finds its way into the lagoon. There’s no mitigation area to pond and filter it before it is released into the ocean. The water runoffs is usually contaminated by animal and human feces. Thus, the advisories about polluted water in beaches at the windward and leeward side of the island.
This long-standing problem is the direct result of the obvious lack of planning in the emplacement of basic infrastructure. It remains problematical in that every rainy season or inclement weather, nearly all of the low-lying areas in Garapan and elsewhere are inundated with polluted water.
Do we need another task force to address this issue? Haven’t we lived with this problem over the past 20 years? Isn’t it about time that a mitigation plan is forged and funded to do away with raw filthy water flowing into our precious lagoon? Let’s do something about, now! Si Yuus Maase`!
