CAGUAS, Puerto Rico — Raw sewage is pouring into the rivers and reservoirs of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
“I think this will be the most challenging environmental response after a hurricane that our country has ever seen,” said Judith Enck, who served as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency region that includes Puerto Rico under President Barack Obama.
With hundreds of thousands of people still without running water, and 20 of the island’s 51 sewage treatment plants out of service, there are growing concerns about contamination and disease.
Officials say running water has been restored to 72 percent of the island’s people.
“That’s the only water they get,” he said.
“That’s the difficult part.” Even the island’s own water authority has distributed water from some wells at the Dorado Superfund site, according to Gov.
But the EPA said Sunday that some people have ignored fences and warning signs and have taken water for drinking from wells on other, more dangerous parts of Dorado, which was brought into the Superfund program due to dangerous levels of industrial chemicals in groundwater.
Benjamin Planes Lugo, 70, lost the roof of the house he built with savings from running a gas station in New York, but he said he’s more concerned about the ash, which he already blamed for his respiratory problems.
The EPA said Sunday that it had visited the site and was awaiting test results.
“They have to inspect every single landfill,” she said.