“And residents, they call it ‘sleepy San Carlos.’ It’s calm, quiet. It’s got a lot of restaurants, a lot of sightseeing, a lot of activities,” he said. “And San Carlos has all these activities like scuba diving, hiking. “Anywhere I go in Guaymas, it’s the same.” “And anyway, where would I go?” she asked. “There’s no doubt this is having adverse effects on public health.”Īnd for residents like Cortez and her family, there’s no escape.Īfter more than 26 years in her home, she said she can’t imagine moving. Still, he said, it’s clear it’s impacting people’s well-being. Little work has been done to study the health impacts of the sewage spills in Guaymas, he said, and it would be hard to separate illness caused by wastewater from other factors, like poor trash collection that leaves garbage often rotting in the streets. No matter how many precautions people take, she said, it can be hard to escape the dust.Ĭontact with sand and sea water that has been contaminated can also pose a risk, said José Arreola, director for the Northwest Center for Biological Research in Guaymas, known as CIBNOR. Once the wastewater dries, it becomes bacteria-laden dust that can blow into people’s eyes, mouths and food. “A lot of people are getting sick because of the sewage.”Īnd it’s not just liquid sewage people need to worry about, she added.
#Mexican word of the day skin#
Health risksĮxposure to sewage can cause Hepatitis A, diarrhea, eye and skin irritation or infections - even cholera, said Silvia Montero, a doctor who works for the city’s public health department. The kids can’t even go outside to play anymore, she said, because of the stink and the health risks. They have all suffered this summer from the stench of sewage that runs in an arroyo near the house. Teresa Cortez sits in her living room with four of her grandchildren. Their eyes and noses sting because of the smell that gets inside." “The smell gets in the house, even with everything closed up.
“And if I, an adult, a grown up, can’t sleep because of the stink, just imagine! I have a 3-year-old grandson, and another who’s 4,” she said. The nauseating stench burns your eyes and throat. Your browser does not support the audio element. More from Kendal Blust on The Show with host Mark Brodie It’s a hot September morning, and once again, wastewater has bubbled up from a clogged pipe nearby, flooding the arroyo and stagnating in huge, green, foul-smelling pools outside her home. Infuriating,” said Cortez, a 52 year-old, life-long resident of the city who is raising four young grandchildren. Teresa Cortez stands near a huge pond of water created by sewage that is leaking from a pipe near her house in Guaymas, Sonora.