Activists monitor possible environmental impact in removing debris after bridge collapse in Baltimore

Authorities remove twisted remains of bridge Francis Scott Key (Baltimore, USA)), after its collapse and deploy the equivalent of 1.6 kilometers of barriers in the water. The team has also been analyzing pollution samples and monitoring the Patapsco River to detect possible spills of fuel and other substances, given the possibility that the catastrophe could also cause environmental problemsis.

He Unified Command, which includes state agencies and the Coast Guardsaid Thursday that it deployed 732 meters of an absorbent containment device and another 732 meters of barriers to try to prevent the spread of any hazardous materials.

This is an environmental scenario that experts are closely monitoring for several reasons, including the river’s location in a metropolitan area that plays a prominent role in commercial shipping, as well as the marine life and migratory birds that move toward the river. north at this time of year.

“Whenever something like this happens, there is a risk of some type of hazardous material getting into the water. The question really is how much and to what extent,” said Gary Belan of American Rivers, a nonprofit association that focuses on issues affecting the nation’s rivers.

According to Belan, materials from the bridge that fell into the river or containers from the Dalí freighter could cause serious environmental problems. But the most worrying thing would be if the boat’s fuel tank breaks and causes a spill.

“If it reached… the river, we would be talking about a pretty serious environmental catastrophe, especially if it reaches that part of the Chesapeake Bay,” he said.

Emergency crews have detected a sheen in the water near the crash site, the Unified Command said Thursday, adding that there was “no immediate threat to the environment.”

The ship had 56 containers with hazardous materials on board, and of those, 14 containing perfumes, soaps and unspecified resin were destroyed, but it was not clear if those materials fell into the water.

“We have carried out air monitoring in and around the vessel with our contractor. “No volatile organic compounds or flammable vapors were observed,” the Unified Command said in a statement posted online.

Environmental impact

He Maryland Department of Environment has begun taking water samples upstream and also downstream from the accident site, where it deployed rapid intervention teams to “mitigate any environmental concerns,” said its spokesman, Jay Apperson.

Emily Ranson, Chesapeake regional director of Clean Water Action, an environmental advocacy group, said it’s too early to say what the fallout might be, but she said the federal government should play a key role in enforcing regulations because of interstate commerce. which takes place in the port. The federal government has more tools than the state to enforce the rules, she said.

“The most important thing to keep in mind is that this certainly reinforces the fact that we need to make sure we have adequate protections and safety precautions with the vessels in our port,” he said.

The accident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, when the container ship Dali, which was drifting, collided with a pillar of the infrastructure, which collapsed moments later. The accident caused the closure of one of the main ports in the United States. Six construction workers working on the bridge are presumed dead. Two people were rescued at the site.

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