An organization called Friends of the New River, said, quote, "A resident from the Tower Hill area sent us these photos…upriver from the Tower Hill bridge. The foul smell is affecting the quality of life and businesses along the river. This is heart-wrenching to watch, but shows that while the river may have cleared up downstream from the bridge, the problem still persists - our New River is suffering" End quote.

The Department of Environment has scheduled a Public Consultation on Friday night in Orange Walk Town, and most-likely, these photographs will be brought up.

Also, we've received a copy of a letter which Chief Environmental Officer Martin Allegria wrote to Shawn Chavarria, the Director of Finance of BSI/ASR and BELCOGEN. Allegria is instructing BSI/ASR to take certain steps to address their effluent into the river, as well as their air emissions. The tone of the letter implies that the course of action that the DOE has given them is non-negotiable.

The letter is dated August 14th, 2019, and Allegria notes that the DOE and BSI/ASR met on August 9th to discuss current and future improvements to the effluent treatment system, and their air emission control equipment at their Tower Hill facilities.

While the DOE acknowledges that improvements have been made to both systems, they want the company to do more.