No, it's definitely not good that a lagoon in Patagonia has turned bright pink

Argentina's Corfo Lagoon has turned pink after the dumping of chemicals from neighboring fish factories

By Reid McCarter  |  July 28, 2021 | 8:45pm
Aux Features Chemistry
No, it's definitely not good that a lagoon in Patagonia has turned bright pink
At least the flamingos can enjoy some ecologically horrifying pollution camouflage. Photo: Daniel Feldman

Though not as immediately terrifying as the record heat waves and devastating storms that have defined the summer of 2021 so far, there’s something instinctively unsettling about the sight of Argentina’s Corfo Lagoon turning bright pink in recent images that show its response to chemical pollution.

Mic has looked into how the water of this lagoon in Argentinian Patagonia has changed so dramatically. There is an unsurprisingly worrying connection between the pollution responsible for its pink color and the shortsightedness of Chubut province’s corporations and authorities.

After the water’s color began changing last week, experts identified the cause as “an excess of sodium sulfite,” which is “an antibacterial agent and chemical compound often used to preserve shellfish.” The chemical is employed by nearby fish factories mainly to prepare prawn for export. The influx of pollution arrived in the lagoon after provincial authorities made the decision to allow these factories to dump “excess sodium sulfite” in the lagoon.

Chubot’s environmental control chief has said not to worry. However, local residents are, understandably, pretty freaked out by the color, disgusted by the accompanying smell of the water, and pissed off about what’s become “a symbol of the reckless abandon of the fishing industry, which makes up much of the region’s local economy.”

An environmental activist explains that the locals have been trying to block waste transport and are tired of putting up with strange pollutants that turn nearby bodies of water bright pink because corporations don’t want to bear the expense of “[transporting] waste to a different treatment plant 35 miles away or build a facility nearby.”

Read the rest of the article over at Mic for further details on the pink lagoon.

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