Monday, December 31, 2012
Brazil promises to clean up its shit
Literally. In anticipation of the 2016 Olympics, Brazil is promising to make an effort to clean up the worst and most visible of its problems.
Near Rio’s future 2016 Olympic village the Marapendi lagoon emits a foul stench from waters that have been turned into a cesspool by unfiltered sewage from surrounding upscale condominiums.Like Hercules in the Augean Sstables said, "That's a lot of shit".
Brazil has pledged the athletes will see a much different sight when they descend on the country for the Summer Games in four years.
The government pledged to clean-up the decades of pollution in its bid to host the Olympics, in a two-year project estimated to cost $300 million and slated to start early next year.
The municipality has also vowed to build four sewage treatment stations in local rivers at a cost of $68 million.
But it will be an uphill battle.
Waste from area lagoons could fill Rio’s iconic Maracana stadium seven times over, according to experts.
“The sewage dumped into the lagoon comes from the residences of the wealthy who do not provide proper treatment,” fumed biologist Mario Moscatelli during a dawn tour of the area.
Until five years ago, untreated sewage was dumped directly into the water system.
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