San José Iturbide, Guanajuato.- Manuel Montes de la Vega mayor of Saint Joseph Iturbideannounced that it will reopen the file of water contamination reported almost 10 years ago in the community of La Cantera, where three minors died from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, this, to remove omissions as well as negligence incurred by authorities at that time.
This, after the documentary “The Age of Water”, which addresses the topic of overexploitation of the aquifers and narrates the vicissitudes of a group of women from the community of La Cantera who demanded information on what was happening in said town, given the death of the minors.
In 2016, UNAM reported high levels of alpha radiation in the water from the pit that supplies the La Cantera and La Huerta communities. Photo: archive
In this screening, in the auditorium of the municipal presidency, Montes de la Vega recognized the directors Isabel and Alfredo Alcántara; as well as the researcher of the UNAMMarcos Adrián Ortega, and the women who came together to demand information, because their voice served to delve deeper into the issue of the quality of drinking water in the area.
As a result, Mayor Iturbidense regretted that the previous governments have left aside all these types of issues that are priorities and are the most necessary.
“Starting this work is opening something that has never been closed. We know that there are many interests that are hidden and that have taken precedence, privileging issues that go against the higher interest that is life,” he mentioned.
Therefore, he stressed that his main commitment is to tell the truth, in the face of every obstacle and everything that has been disguised or that has been attempted to be hidden.
Alfredo Alcántara, co-director of the documentary, recalled that learning about the struggle of the group of women from the La Cantera community to know what was happening in the town inspired them, which is why they decided to make it, which is currently competing in the Morelia International Film Festival. , in the Mexican Documentary category.
For his part, Marcos Adrián Ortega, researcher at the UNAMrecalled the water research work in the area, which has been going on for more than 20 years, the result of which is that there are negative consequences due to the overexploitation of the aquifer.
It is water stored more than 5 thousand years old, traces of arsenic and fluorine have been found, but also in La Cantera, high levels of radioactivity were found, produced by radon gas.
Likewise, he said that the investigation has continued, but with a low profile, so more results will be released soon.
Finally, Mayor Manuel Montes promised to provide the necessary support for research, where solutions can be found for the water supply for the population of the municipality and the region.
Antecedent
It is worth mentioning that in 2016, the General Directorate of Social Communication of the UNAM, through the bulletin UNAM-DGCS-230, issued on April 10, 2016, reported that, after analyzing samples of the liquid from the pit that supplies the communities Elevated levels of alpha radiation were detected in La Cantera and La Huerta.
Therefore, scientists concluded that the latter would be a possible cause of deaths from lymphoblastic leukemia in girls under 12 years of age.
Likewise, researchers from the Geosciences Center (CGeo) of UNAM warned that the water from the well that supplies the communities of La Cantera, La Huerta and the Fraccionamiento la Cantera, in the municipality of San José Iturbide, Guanajuato, contains high levels of alpha radiation. , which would be related to death from lymphoblastic leukemia in girls under 12 years of age.
Time of taking a water sample in 2016. Photo: Archive
Adrián Ortega, one of the specialists who since September 2015 participated in the studies in the settlements and in the collection of samples of that groundwater, explained that the analyzes have shown radiation measurements four times above that allowed by the NOM. 127SSA1.
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