The Attorney General,s Office for the Defense of the Environment has cited 45 companies or individuals for contaminating Santo Domingo,s rivers and protected areas. Jose Antonio Trinidad Sena, in charge of office, declined to name any of the alleged violators of the new law on protection of the environment, but said that his office was studying which of them ought to be submitted to judicial process. The law regarding protection of the environment, which was approved this past August, provides for fines and jail sentences for those convicted of violating its provisions. However, it also allows the Attorney General and the Environment Minister latitude as to whether to apply non-judicial, administrative remedies. The River Isabela, which borders Santo Domingo,s northern reaches, and the river Ozama, which the capital straddles from East to West, show signs of serious, but not irreversible damage, due to the dumping of toxic waste, industrial debris, and human effluvia. Over recent years, their banks have become choked with auto and marine repair shops, factories, and squatters, villages that lack urban sanitation systems. According to Trinidad Sena, a clean up of these two waterways is a high priority. In the three months of its existence, he said, his office has investigated and resolved fifteen reported cases of environmental abuse without recourse to court action. He spoke of the rescue of a protected area in Puerto Plata, the Laguna el Choco National Park that had been invaded by 80 squatters, houses.
