Notable case, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Matanza–Riachuelo river basin
Cuenca Matanza-Riachuelo
A 64 km river in Argentina, reaching the sea at Buenos Aires, in a basin of about 3.5 million people. Industrial and sewage discharges have made it one of the most polluted waterways in Latin America, with very high lead levels.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediation under way
- Area
- 224,000 ha on land1
- People affected
- 3,500,0002
- Media
- surface water, sediment, soil
- Kind of site
- industry, sewage
- Area. A drainage basin of 2,240 km²; the river is 64 km long. The coordinates mark the mouth.
- People affected. Inhabitants of the basin (Wikipedia, year not given).
Contaminants
Metals
Mixtures and waste
Status
Remediation under way
The cleanup ordered in 2008 is under way under Supreme Court supervision. Recent progress has not been checked against the basin authority's (ACUMAR) sources.
Story
A first cleanup plan in 1993, with a budget of $250 million, remained almost a dead letter: only one million was actually spent on cleanup. New efforts began in 2006 under President Néstor Kirchner.
In July 2008 the Supreme Court, in the Mendoza case, recognised the liability of government for the environmental damage and ordered them to improve the population's quality of life, restore the environment and prevent further damage, with five non-governmental organisations appointed to help monitor compliance.
Timeline
- 1993First cleanup plan, largely unimplemented.
- 2006New national government initiatives.
- 2008Supreme Court's Mendoza ruling.
Health
According to Wikipedia, 25% of children in the slums along the river have elevated blood lead; respiratory and gastrointestinal illness is also common. The primary source was not consulted.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Agrostis capillarisCommon bentEvidence: field
- Cannabis sativaIndustrial hempEvidence: field
- Festuca rubraRed fescueEvidence: field
- Ricinus communisCastor beanEvidence: field
- Robinia pseudoacaciaBlack locustEvidence: field
- Typha latifoliaBroadleaf cattailEvidence: field
Fungi
- Agaricus bisporusButton mushroomEvidence: laboratory
- Mucor circinelloidesEvidence: laboratory
- Saccharomyces cerevisiaeBaker's yeast, brewer's yeastEvidence: laboratory
The rest are on the contaminant pages.
Sources
- Matanza River, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.