Nation Cries for Argentina’s Filthiest River

Glance into the waters of Argentina’s Riachuelo River: The only reflection you’re likely to see is one of decades of environmental neglect.

It’s pitch-black and smells foul. It doesn’t move and has no oxygen to sustain life. Rusty parts of sunken vessels or collapsed bridges poke through the glazed, oily surface.

Meandering through Buenos Aires’ industrial belt, the Riachuelo ends its course in the port of La Boca, a picturesque but rundown neighborhood founded by Italian immigrants early this century.

The stench of the river at times pervades the air of Caminito, a street in La Boca whose multicolored, corrugated-iron roofs and tango music have made it a top tourist attraction.

But all that could change under an ambitious plan by the Buenos Aires City Council to resuscitate Argentina’s filthiest river.

Ecological concern is growing fast in Argentina, beset for decades by political misrule and economic instability. The environment was never considered a high priority.

But Argentines are taking an unprecedented interest in the environment that mirrors concerns in Europe and the United States dating back at least two decades. It’s no wonder.

“On Sundays the air used to be rich with the smell of pasta sauce,” said Ruben Garbeldini, the owner of a Caminito bookshop. “But when the wind blew in the wrong direction, we always lost our appetite.”

Garbeldini said the death of the Riachuelo dates back to the 1940s when it succumbed to the pollution pumped for years from upstream factories, including tanneries and meatpacking plants.

Tests have found alarming levels of zinc and lead and untreated sewage in the river. At night, trucks regularly dump construction debris on its banks or in the water.

“Life in the river died off long ago,” said Marcelo Kohan, president of CEAMSE, an ecological group leading the cleanup campaign. “Now it’s humans we have to protect.”

“If the Riachuelo ever floods it would spell disaster for people living nearby,” Kohan said. People living in shantytowns that hug the river’s banks regularly sunbathe and eat by the water.

The possibility of the suffocated Riachuelo breathing again is the result of a remark in 1993 by sports-loving President Carlos Menem. Thinking the cleanup would begin immediately, Menem vowed to fish and sail in the Riachuelo within 1,000 days. If he keeps his promise, he won’t like what he finds.

“Sunken ships, cars and corpses are the least of our worries,” said Graciela Gerola, the head of the cleanup campaign. “The real problem is toxic waste and oil slicks.”

In March workers extracted the prow of an oil tanker that sank 11 years ago after catching fire. Seven boats, three collapsed bridges, two piers and several burnt-out cars will be pulled out this year, Gerola said. The waterway may then be dredged if the government puts up the cash.

As part of the cleanup, workers have removed tons of trash from the banks and are cutting back weeds and bushes.

This year, the government will spend $5 million on the project. A further $600 million will be needed to completely clean the river, said officials, who asked not to be identified.

But Garbeldini, a 65-year-old from Genoa, Italy, said residents of La Boca have long given up hope that the government will clean the Riachuelo.

“We’re a nostalgic bunch,” he said. “But that’s because this part of town has been long forgotten by the government. It’s slowly dying. As for the river, that passed away years ago.”