Foal born with two heads: tannery blamed
12/09/2007
The villagers of Nonogasta and Chilecito in the Argentinian province of La Rioja have launched angry protests against the Yoma Tannery, the biggest employer in the area.
The tannery has been in place for more than 20 years, but an adjoining effluent treatment plant is still under construction.
Local people have protested in the past about soil contamination, saying the Yoma facility is the only possible source. Official studies have found unusually high levels of arsenic in the soil. There are claims that chrome levels are dangerously high too, although the director of the provincial department for the environment, Nito Brizuela, has said chrome contamination has not been confirmed.
In any case, villagers have complained about unusually high levels of cancer in the local area.
When, two days ago, a foal on a nearby farm was born with two heads, the people of Nonogasta and Chilecito protested immediately that this was proof of contamination. Mr Brizuela agreed to approach Argentina's federal government to request an independent scientific study into pollution levels, and for funding to make sure the effluent treatment plant is completed without any further delay.
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