Suspected industrial dye leak turns river near Buenos Aires bright red

Residents living near the Sarandí have long complained about pollution in the area.

A small river in greater Buenos Aires was dyed a deep and worrying shade of red on Thursday after what is thought to have been a leak of dye from a nearby factory.

The violent hue of the Sarandí, which runs through the municipality of Avellaneda, six miles (9.6km) south of the Argentinian capital, alarmed local residents, who have long complained about industrial pollution in the area.

A local paper, La Verdad, reported residents saying that a “nauseating” smell was coming off the water, and that they suspected the culprit was a nearby tannery.

One resident, María Ducomls, said the river looked like “a bloody stream” and that the incident was the latest in a series of similar episodes. “You don’t need to be an inspector to realise just how polluted the poor Sarandí creek is,” she told Agence France-Presse.

Ducomls, 52, said her family had been woken by “the stench” on Thursday morning, adding that no one had offered an explanation for the continuing pollution, despite all the complaints.

The red waters, she said, were only the most recent example of the pollution of the Sarandí. “We’ve seen it bluish, greenish, pink and purplish, with a slick of grease on the surface that looks like oil,” Ducomls added.

The regional environment department said it was investigating the apparent leak. “On the morning of Thursday 6 February, we received a report that the waters of the Sarandí canal had been dyed red,” it said in a statement.

“Our mobile analysis laboratory was sent to the area and two litres of water were taken as samples for basic chemical analysis and liquid chromatography in order to determine what organic substance was responsible for the discoloration. It is thought to be some kind of organic colouring.”

An AFP journalist said the colour of the waters had faded by late on Thursday afternoon.