Chile prepares pollution clean-up action plan

The National Environmental Commission (CONAMA) in Chile is preparing a mathematical model and an action plan to clean up pollution in the Concepción and San Vicente bays. The Japanese Trust Fund for Consultancy Services is providing financial resources.

Runoff from heavy industries, such as petrochemical and steel manufacturing; waste discharges from shipbuilding and fisheries; and domestic sewage from Talcahuano pollute both bays, located 400 km southwest of Santiago. Government agencies consider the environmental recovery of the polluted bays a top priority.

A three-dimensional, dynamic, time-variable mathematical model will be built giving details of hydrodynamics, currents, dispersion and water quality of the two bays. The model will be used as a tool to define the load capacity of the two water bodies, and it will also be applied to evaluate changes produced in the environment after using different measures for controlling wastewater under hypothetical scenarios of the pollution control program.