URGENT TRACKING and DISPOSAL of HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
POST-HURRICANE MITCH
HONDURAS
DUTCH TRUST FUND 021813 : FINAL REPORT
October 2000
PROJECT SUMMARY
ACTIVITY: Urgent Tracking and Disposal of Hazardous Materials
REGION: Honduras, Latin America and Caribbean Region
AMOUNT ALLOCATED: US$ 730,000
STARTING DATE: April 1999
CLOSING DATE: August 2000
DISBURSEMENTS:
FY2000: US$ 627,790.60
FY2001: US$ 101,542.67
EXECUTED BY: World Bank, through the Honduras Resident Mission
TASK MANAGER: Steve Maber, Senior Operations Officer, LCCHN
Martin H. Ochoa, National Environmental Consultant
TEAM MEMBERS:
Becky Myton, National Environmental Consultant
Marie-Claude Haxaire, Budget Analyst, LCSES
Mario Zelaya, Procurement Specialist, LCCHN
BACKGROUND
In October of 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept across Honduras causing widespread flooding and
considerable damage to property and infrastructure. The Choluteca River was particularly badly
affected, with landslides blocking the river in the capital city of Tegucigalpa and devastation of the
downstream agricultural land.
Hurricane Mitch’s Path Across Honduras
Final Report
Satellite Image of Hurricane Mitch
TF021813
October 2000
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
In the aftermath, it became clear that several pesticide warehouses in the Lower Choluteca River Basin
had been destroyed and that a hazardous mix of materials had been swept into the river. Consequently,
this project was created in order to achieve the following objectives:
1. To establish the degree of pesticide contamination by conducting baseline studies on the ground
water and breast milk among the affected communities in the lower Choluteca River basin
2. To track, inventory, package and safely dispose of hazardous obsolete pesticides still stored in
warehouses in Tegucigalpa
3. To plan and carry out institutional, municipal and local Pesticides Management training, including
a public awareness campaign to promote better and safer pesticide management
4. To raise awareness amongst municipal authorities on pesticide management issues and public
health and safety.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
The project was divided into four principle areas of activity:
1.
Establishment of Pesticide Contamination Baseline Data in Ground Water and Breast Milk
The San Francisco-based company Tetra Tech EM Inc.,
was selected and contracted for the identification, testing,
and analysis of 46 communities located along the lower
Choluteca River basin. This area was severely damaged
during Hurricane Mitch and was identified as one of the
most susceptible to pesticide contamination from the
warehouses destroyed during the flooding. Over 100
lactating women and more than 300 samples of
groundwater were tested following US EPA standard
methods. Collected water samples were refrigerated and
shipped directly to APCL Laboratories in Chino,
California. All breast milk samples were shipped to the
Mayo Medical Laboratories in Rochester, Minnesota. The final results were subsequently
presented to Government of Honduras officials and NGOs directly involved with health risk
prevention and pesticide management in the south of Honduras.
2.
Inventory, Removal and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides
The Dutch company AVR Chemie Int., was contracted for
the inventory, packing, shipment, and final disposal of
obsolete pesticides stored in three warehouses located in
Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, San Lorenzo Port, and Santa
María del Real. 103 tons of obsolete pesticides, including
significant quantities of BHC, Chlordane, Malation,
Parathion, plus small quantities of additional chlorinated
hydrocarbons, were packed using United Nations approved
containers, which were then shipped to Holland for final
incineration according to Basel Convention protocols. The
government warehouses were finally cleaned and all
remaining materials were packed and stored in a safe
manner. AVR services also included providing safety procedures training to environmental
officers from the Ministry of the Environment (SERNA), Ministry of Health, and the National
Agricultural Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desarrollo Agrícola).
Final Report
TF021813
October 2000
3.
Design, Reproduction and Training of Pesticide Management Guidelines
Local consultant, Cesar Pino, was hired to design, adapt and disseminate training services to
more than 1,000 people directly involved in the regulation, application, and enforcement of
pesticide management at the institutional,
municipal, and local levels.
A Training
Workshop was organized in Tegucigalpa for
government officials on the institutional aspects
of Pesticide Management which included the
participation of international presenters from the
PanAmerican Health Organization (PAHO) and
other national health specialists. The participants
represented a broad range of Honduran society,
including: municipalities and the private sector as
well as health care workers, farmers, school
teachers.
Furthermore, municipal authorities
were trained in a series of over 20 one-day
workshops held on location in the south of Honduras in order to meet the high demand for these
events. Training topics included: pesticide classification, health risks, material application and
storage and first aid treatment in case of intoxication – See Annex 1 for details.
4.
Public Awareness and Education Campaigns
A massive public awareness and education campaign
was launched in order to raise consciousness levels
about the potential dangers of uncontrolled pesticides.
This included the design and dissemination of radio
announcements through local radio stations located
throughout the Choluteca and Valle regions.
Additionally, informative stickers, calendars and flipcharts were reproduced and distributed and also 7,500
copies of a book series comprising nine cartoon stories
on pesticide and basic sanitation information were
approved and disseminated by the Ministry of Health see Annex 2.
PROJECT OUTPUTS
In 17 months of intensive activities, the Project achieved the following results:
1.
Establishment of Pesticide Contamination Baseline Data in Ground Water and Breast Milk
TetraTech’s Final Report, including mapping of the results, was
presented on 23 May 2000 in a public conference in Tegucigalpa,
Honduras. The overall conclusion reached is that the residual levels
of toxin contamination from pesticides swept into the river system are
not dangerous – indeed, it appears that the sheer volume of flood
waters helped dilute the toxins and transported them rapidly out to sea.
The results also showed that no infants were at risk from pesticide
contaminants – See the Executive Summary in Annex 3. Suggested
follow-up work might usefully include continuous groundwater
monitoring of the surveyed areas as well as expanding the test area to
the greater Choluteca and Nacaome rivers basins. Additional work
should also include similar studies in areas similarly exposed to
pesticides in agricultural areas in the north of the country.
Final Report
TF021813
October 2000
2.
Inventory, Removal and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides
103 tons of obsolete and potential dangerous
pesticides were incinerated following standard Basel
Convention procedures.
Furthermore, an official
Certificate of Destruction was received from the Dutch
authorities on 29 July 2000 – See Annex 4. Also, four
environmental technicians from SERNA were trained
during the project implementation phase.
The
Minister of the Environment, Sra. Xiomara Gomez,
immediately expressed her satisfaction with the results
of the project and announced publicly her interest in
expanding these activities to additional training for
seaport facilities officers and municipal authorities involved in pesticide handling and
management. AVR officials also declared this
operation to be one of the fastest that they have
carried out in Latin America, which was especially
gratifying considering the extensive approvals and
authorizations which were required for the transport
and shipping of hazardous wastes through
international waters. Additional components for the
future might include developing public/private
partnerships for the training, identification, safe
storage, shipping and disposal of privately-owned
pesticide containers which still exist in Honduras.
3.
Design, Reproduction and Training of Pesticide
Management Guidelines
The consultant prepared and distributed a 4-volume Pesticide
Management Guidelines manual, which was approved by the
Ministry of Environment. In addition, more than 1,300 people
from Choluteca, Valle, Copan, Ocotepeque, Yoro and Atlantida
regions were trained in highly
participative and interactive
workshops. Almost 50% of
the participants were women,
the participants also included
municipal officers from 14
municipalities, nearly 300
school teachers, 60 health
workers, several high-school
students and more than 20 private sector organizations (mainly
agricultural cooperatives). In addition, close to 50 government
officials from the Ministry of Health, Environment, Labor,
Water Authority and PAHO attended the four-day Institutional
Workshop held in the Hotel Honduras Maya in November
1999.
Final Report
TF021813
October 2000
4.
Public Awareness and Education Campaigns
Some 7,500 copies of the PlagSalud book
series of “Juanita y la Gotita” with their
corresponding training manuals and
materials (including stickers and flip charts)
were reproduced and distributed through
the Ministry of Health’s Pesticide Training
Program. Also, the Ministry of Natural
Resources and the Environment distributed
copies through their Environmental
Development Project (PRODESAMH) to
key Municipalities in agricultural areas
across the country.
LESSONS LEARNED
Due largely to time constraints, one of the originally-planned sub components of this project (the
Choluteca River Flood Modeling for Emergency Response) had to be cancelled. However, USAID has
since confirmed the availability of funds to finance this activity though its Municipal Cooperation
Action Plan for the City of Choluteca and it is expected to be implemented in 2001. As this was the
first time Honduras exported obsolete pesticides for destruction, the project implementation suffered
some minor delays with respect to organizing the necessary authorizations and documentation through
the official government channels. However, this has been considered by all to have been a very useful
learning experience which has highlighted how future hazardous materials may be removed safely
from Honduras.
CURRENT STATUS
All project activities have been fully and satisfactorily completed. All of the project funds have been
disbursed - leaving a balance of just US$667. A full list of the project’s consultancy contracts appears
in Annex 5.
ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE EXPECTED RESULTS
The Project has been a complete success with a series of concrete results benefiting the population of
southern Honduras:
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Identification and removal of hazardous wastes has made the Choluteca valley safer and less
susceptible to contamination from future spills
The population were informed that the toxic spillages which occurred during Hurricane Mitch have
not had a lasting impact on the environment nor entered the human food chain
An effective institutional model has been developed for removing hazardous wastes which will
greatly facilitate future operations
The level of public awareness about the potential dangers of pesticides has been dramatically
increased through a series of highly successful training workshops and radio announcements and
newspaper articles – See Annex 6. This program could be easily extended to the rest of the
country.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (SERNA), the National Water Authority
(SANAA) and numerous Mayors in the project target area have expressed their gratitude for the
Hazardous Wastes Project and are interested in expanding the activities, including additional training,
to other areas of the country.
Final Report
TF021813
October 2000
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
As a direct result of this project’s publicity campaigns and public and institutional workshops, a further
400 tons of hazardous materials have been identified. The national authorities and the Project Team
are working together to obtain financing in order to remove and destroy all of these remaining
chemicals.
This Report Written by:
Date:
Steve Maber and Martin Ochoa
30 October 2000
ANNEXES
Annex 1
PESTICIDES WORKSHOPS and PRESENTATIONS
Annex 2
TRAINING MATERIALS
Annex 3
TETRA TECH’s CONTAMINATION REPORT
Annex 4
AVR’s CERTIFICATE of HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DESTRUCTION
Annex 5
CONSULTANCY CONTRACTS
Annex 6
HAZARDOUS WASTES PROJECT in the NEWS
Annex 7
THE PROJECT TEAM
Final Report
TF021813
October 2000