On Friday, September 1, 2006, a toxic spill took place in Caldas de Reis, Pontevedra. A
wide variety of chemical compounds were spilled as a result of a fire in the Brenntag
factory located there. The spill, which consisted mainly of volatile organic compounds,
ferric chloride, alumina sulfate, and a colorant, probably malachite green, contaminated
about 4 kilometers of the Umia River until the Regional Executive of Galicia decided to
raise a series of docks to temporarily dam the river.
This caused various problems. First, as the spill took place on a Friday, it was hard to
find a laboratory that could rapidly analyze the spill composition and conduct monitoring.
Second, a decision had to be made quickly about how to contain the river and keep the
spill from entering the water supply of the Arousa region where about 200,000 people live.
Third, the spill had to be kept from reaching the shellfish beds of the Ria of Arousa.
This paper examines all the decisions that were made in the first days
after the spill, which were influenced by the need to ensure water supplies to the
population affected. A water treatment system was improvised in the river using treatment
ponds to eliminate the contaminants. Stopping the flow of the river had the following
consequences: algal blooms; microcystins in drinking water; construction of a by-pass
pipeline from a point upstream to the spill to a point below the last dock (15 km in 7 days);
an effort that coincided with the grape harvest in a major winemaking area; difficulties in
supplying water to different population centers; and others. Includes table, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 480 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 10 |
| Published : | 11/01/2007 |
