"Landfill in Colombia continues to pollute protected wetlands despite court-ordered clean-up", 12 June 2023

The takeover of a polluting landfill in Colombia was supposed to help clean up the area for residents falling sick from exposure to toxic chemicals, but years later they say the problem hasn’t gone away and might even be worse.

The Patio Bonito landfill near Barrancabermeja, in the central state of Santander, was taken over in 2019 by French utilities company Veolia after years of mismanagement. The company promised to stop leakages that had led to respiratory issues and birth defects among residents, but so far it has failed to implement real change, according to a Global Witness report...

The landfill was built in 2015 in the middle of the San Silvestre wetlands, a 69,959-hectare (172,872-acre) protected area that serves as part of a regional jaguar corridor.

The site was originally operated by the Colombian company Rediba, which endured years of government investigations into improper waste management...

[In 2017], Colombia’s constitutional court ruled that Rediba had violated residents’ rights to health and a healthy environment. It also said the company violated their right to live in “dignified conditions.” Although Rediba didn’t have to close the facility, the court did require it to address all environmental and public health issues.

When Rediba sold the landfill to French company Veolia in 2019, it also passed on the clean-up requirements imposed by the court. But Veolia hasn’t fixed them either, according to Global Witness and [NGO] San Silvestre Green...

Drone footage captured by San Silvestre Green revealed that the company is committing similar violations as Rediba. Contaminated chemicals are still being improperly stored at the landfill, resulting in overflow that pollutes local water bodies...

The court ordered landfill operators to provide water to residents, according to the report. But they say the local government has carried out that responsibility instead of Veolia.

For its part, Veolia says it has addressed the public health and environmental issues at the landfill, citing the lack of additional government action as evidence that regulations are being met...