Environmentally conscious residents say that the river is in the worst state that they've seen it, and they are worried that it is polluted. Well, we've since been able to confirm with the CEO in the Ministry of Environment, Percival Cho that indeed, it is polluted.

But who's the culprit? At this time, the technicians at the Department of Environment aren't that clear. They believe that there are multiple sources of pollution for the river, including town residents.

Some point fingers at sugar industry giant, ASR/BSI. And, as part of yesterday's media tour, the organizers took us to a part of the river that is near to the BSI's Tower Hill facility. That's where we captured this footage of water from the facility being drained off into the river.

Yesterday, BSI/ASR said, quote, "...we continue to monitor the river, through internal and external mechanisms regularly, as is required under our Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP)." End quote.

Cho told us that last week DOE technicians did conduct several tests, and they did a site visit at BSI.

He noted that in the New River, the water temperature is above the normally recommended range, while its oxygen content is below the recommended range, and its nutrient concentrations are higher than they are supposed to be. That creates the perfect environment for naturally occurring algae in the water to increase in what is known as "an algae bloom." When this happens, the rapidly reproducing algae decreases the river's oxygen content even further, and that causes marine life, such as the fish, to die.

Depending on the species of algae, it may release toxins into the water, which could further make the river unsafe. So, the DOE will conduct tests to find out which type of algae is currently blooming in the New River.

During last year's site visit at BSI, water temperature tests were conducted on the water coming out of the factory, and it was determined to be higher than the recommended threshold. And so, BSI was asked to cool down any water that they are releasing into the river.

Yesterday, the residents concerned about the state of the river also pointed fingers at other companies along the riverside as possible sources of pollution. Well, CEO Cho told us that the DOE personnel also suspect that certain resorts, restaurants and tortilla factories along the riverside have released unsafe effluent into the river. It has been also determined that certain drains that were built in the town to remove wastewater from households are also to blame for the nutrient pollution that is currently detected.