Some neighbors got tired of the situation and filed a complaint, about a situation that has been going on since the pandemic. But at that time no one had detected anything, and the inspections had not had a positive result in the municipal Environment department.
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A sector of the main drainage of Centenario was contaminated with hydrocarbons due to the discharge of effluents from a company. There was a preventive closure and fine.
Neighborhood complaint or “batida”
There is also talk of a “batida” since the effluent discharges were visible to everyone, meters from the municipal cemetery. The company shares the property of the former juice factory with a welding workshop and also with the company BM Inspeccionesas confirmed by municipal inspectors in the minutes carried out in April and May, through inspections.
The Molani SAS company was given a deadline to adapt the laundry procedures, but it did not comply, and the old facilities, where the Jugos del Sur ionic company operated, were closed.
The company operated with a certain aura of mystery, since although it had a commercial license, no one can explain how a laundry with oil waste could operate in the middle of the farms.
Oil pollution in Centenario.mp4
It is an industrial laundry with a heavy fleet and hoppers. (also from drilling pipes at the time) and the Municipality’s environmental report states that groundwater was used to wash the units.storage tanks, collection system, treatment with an activated carbon filter item.
Closure: had been notified but did not comply
The situation was uncovered after the pandemic and in recent months, due to the notable increase in activity, according to the residents of that area. After washing vehicles and oil materials, the effluents ended up directly in the drains, a constant discharge.
According to the information that was obtained LMNeuquén, an inspection report was drawn up on April 12 where the person in charge of the company Monali SAS was notified to stop the spill of fluids. But this did not happen.
The thing is The generation of spills never stopped and the company did not even flinch in the face of the inspections. Visits were made on different days and times, and oil-contaminated effluents continued to be dumped into the drain, for everyone to see. It was a situation also known by neighbors who went out for a walk, not only in the farm sector, but also in Loteo Cabezas, a property very close to the former juice factory used for sports practice.
On May 10, 2024, a second inspection report was drawn up for fluid spills into the drain., with notification to the company name. A remediation deadline was given that was never met.
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The Molani SAS company operated on the old property of the former Jugos del Sur SA in Centenario. Other companies also operate.
Politics: Nobody saw anything?
Within the investigation carried out by the commune, other irregularities were detected that at least draw attention. There was an environmental report (File No. 920 of 2023), where the staff of the former Environment Directorate made a report, whose results were negative. They did not detect any spills or contamination. What happened? There are no answers yet.
The company had presented a note with some of the data requested at the time by the commune, but omitted the proof of registration of Hazardous Waste Generator. How is it possible that a company could have operated for almost four years without authorization?
There was no Water Resources permit from the province or a report on the generation, treatment and disposal of special waste (sludge and effluents contaminated with hydrocarbons) nor the authorization of groundwater for the laundry.
The deadlines for the company expired in these two months and Judge Vidal did not hesitate to preventively close the company with the entire administrative route in hand, the photographs and the details of the minutes.
The case is no longer just an anecdote, since Centenario has an almost lost debate with the emergence of the Vaca Muerta business, which is increasingly advancing in the rural area. And a postcard of that debate is the tower, now fictitious, that stands between the avenues of a town that smells more of oil than of apples.
