The trucks were lined up and so were the protesters, the people of Puerto Rico who sat down in opposition of 51 trucks illegally dumping tons of ashes in the Peñuelas Valley Landfill from the Applied Energy Systems (AES) plant in Guayama; only a strip of police divided them. “Shame on you,” “They are trying to kill us!” were some of the chants expressed by the protesters sitting on the exit off the Highway 2, impeding the access of the ash-carrying trucks to road 385 in Tallaboas, Peñuelas. Over 100 policemen, in riot gear, were deployed to disrupt the rally and enforce the order of the appeals court that reverted the municipal ordinance of Peñuelas. Neighbors, community leaders, students, politicians, and prominent personalities were among the pacific demonstrators. The trucks turned their motors on waiting for the police to clear the way for them to complete their job and dump their cargo in the Peñuelas Valley Landfill, operated by EC Waste.
The cargo of deadly ashes came from a generator in Guayama, managed by AES, that uses coal as fuel to create electricity. The improper dumping of these ashes puts the health of the people of Peñuelas and all of Puerto Rico at risk. The company AES is a multinational energy providing company with facilities in 18 countries, a 21,000 workforce, and revenues of 15 billion dollars. Created in 1981 and based in Arlington, Virginia, AES has a presence in North, Central and South America, Europe, and Asia with subsidiaries in each of the continents. In Puerto Rico, the AES, arrived in 1994 to help PREPA produce power for the island—especially to supply energy for the east and southern coast. The plant started functioning in 2002, commissioning $800 million for burning coal to produce energy while only employing over 100 people. Guayama’s plant is not the only generator of the company that has been under scrutiny because of their pollution. The Guardian released a list where plants like the one in Kilroot Carbon Generator in Northern Ireland and the Maritza Carbon plant in Bulgaria were determined to be one of the worst air polluters in Europe in a report released by the European Energy Agency.
The Ashes
The burning of 250 tons of coal per hour produces two types of ashes—fly and bottom. Fly ash is ultra fine ash that as the names suggests it can “fly” when wind hits it. Bottom ash is a slightly bigger type of ash that cannot travel through the air due to its size.
The Environmental Integrity Project stated that the ashes produced in this generator are heavily toxic due to the presence of heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury, and nickel. Puerto Rico’s AES power plant is ranked #1 in emissions of chromium, 64th in emissions of lead, and 24th in nickel emissions among the reported. The presence of chromium, nickel, and lead in the ashes compromises the health of the people living near the area where they’re being unloaded. Exposure to these metals creates an array of health complications that go from lung problems to cancer—even cardiovascular complications. This was the case with our neighbors in Dominican Republic, where AES deposited over 27,000 tons of ashes in the bay of Samaná. The improper disposal of the ashes has had an impact of the coastal community living nearby the toxic remnants. Reports of birth defects and spontaneous abortions were some of the medical problems documented by the Dominican people exposed to the cinder.
According to AES, the ashes produced are not toxic and can be used in many ways and in the agriculture, construction, and manufacturing industries. The company assured to the public that the ashes can be used for concrete mix, road pavement, and fertilizer, but due to their toxicity they shouldn’t even be allowed to be close to humans nor environments. This is why the protesters were sitting down, demanding that these deadly ashes be properly disposed. The people were fighting for their right to live in a healthy and safe environment.
The Protest
The people of Puerto Rico united against the blatant contamination of Peñuelas. On November 22nd, police formed a line and started arresting the peaceful protesters who were blocking the way to the Peñuelas Landfill. As the police started to surround the sitting protesters, the mood started to get heated and the chants grew louder. After circling the rioters, the police started to pluck them out, one by one, breaking the picket line, but not their spirit. As La Borinqueña Revolucionaria was sang among them; the police arrested 41 protesters. One of them was Antonio Prieto, an UPRM student. Antonio expressed that they yanked him from the last three protesters who were left lying on the road and cuffed him; it was his first time feeling the cold steel of shackles. “They were telling me to cooperate with them, but I told them to cooperate with the people of Peñuelas and Puerto Rico.” With them was also Maria de Lourdes Santiago, from the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), and LGBTT activist Pedro Julio Serrano. Both of them were jailed, too.
Later on, the police cleared the picket line and started to push their formation forward, followed by the trucks, making the protesters back up against the entrance of the landfill. The peaceful protest started escalating with tires, bottles, and rocks being thrown at the police while a portion of the protesters called for obedience and peace. After hours of confrontation, the police finally managed to clear the way for over 50 trucks to deposit the lethal cargo on the Peñuelas Landfill. The people were frustrated, crying, and screaming, but death was plowing through their neighborhood as it was being dumped in their backyards.
Aftermath
Since then, the protest has only grown larger. On Friday November 25th, over 500 people congregated, awaiting the trucks to come. Since they didn’t arrive, the community organized activities and called for more people to unite against the deposit of these deadly ashes. As the fight continues, the neighbors of Barrio Tallaboas in Peñuelas are being exposed to toxic waste daily, which is not only affecting their health but their quality of life. We must unite, not only as Puerto Ricans, but as humans, to stop the dumping of the ashes and make a calling to PREPA, EPA, local and international authorities to investigate and help the people of Peñuelas.