10.2.2.4
Bays
T.B. Hernandez
Bays in Cuba are mainly shaped like bags, relatively closed, and where areas of industrial
development and the main ports of the country can be found. Some of them also have
important populations of fish, shellfish and molluscs which are important fishing resources.
Almost all Cuban bays are affected by pollution, in some cases in an intense manner.
The main cause of pollution in bays are terrestrial sources: urban, industrial, mining,
agricultural and other kinds of waste. Although waste caused by port-maritime activities
has a significant effect in the deterioration of these ecosystems when not handled correctly.
Generally, Cuban bays show a growing deterioration of the quality of its waters and
coasts and degradation of the landscape, causing an important decrease in their uses
specially as a recreational landscape and its fishing use, and a lose in values in services
due to the presence of naval and shore facilities (Chabalina 1997).
To give an example of the conditions of Cuban bays we can mention two of them.
Havana Bay, is highly polluted due to numerous discharges from urban and industrial
waste sources that it receives through the rivers Luyano and Martin Perez at Guasabacoa
Cove and other sources that flow into Atares Cove and several direct industrial sources.
The main sources are from an oil refinery, a distillery, a yeast plant and two slaughter houses.
Since may 1996 project "Planning and Management of Highly Polluted Bays and coastal
Zones in the Great Caribbean Region" from GEF/UNOPS/UNEP is being carried out, which
includes studies of feasibility and preinvestiments on a set of solutions for environmental sanitation of Havana Bay. The first objective is to carry out studies that include treatment of industrial liquid waste which is dumped directly into the bay (whether from
industrial activity as such, from port activities or from moving sources). The second
objective aims at institutional strengthening, to achieve an increase in research, planning and cooperation capacities to carry out corrective measures. The third objective
is still being planned, and is aimed at attracting national and international financing
to implement the'resulting executive projects to carry out the first two objectives.
The second example, the Bay of Nipe: Is a productive, dynamic and healthy ecosystem with high values of dissolved oxygen and with zones that maintain an ecological
balance in almost alJ the bay. It has no problems of pollution from hydrocarbons nor
sanitation. However, there is a group of pollution sources that affect the bay:
• Mining runoff through river Mayari and Cajimaya stream, which is causing an important increase in heavy metal content in the sediments and a reddish coloration
in the estuarine waters.
• The torula factory and the sugar mill which produce nutrients and organic matter
which affect 30% of the bay area and cause a conflict between its use for fishing and
as a waste receptor.
• A slaughter house and the sewage drainage from several townships, which have a
lesser impact in the deterioration. .
To preserve the ecosystem, a set of measures have been proposed, which include:
for the torula plant, a previous treatment of the waste and the use of an oxidation lagoon; for the sugar mill and one of the townships, previous treatment and evacuation
through an underwater pipe; for the mining runoff, to create antipollution barriers.
Bays
T.B. Hernandez
Bays in Cuba are mainly shaped like bags, relatively closed, and where areas of industrial
development and the main ports of the country can be found. Some of them also have
important populations of fish, shellfish and molluscs which are important fishing resources.
Almost all Cuban bays are affected by pollution, in some cases in an intense manner.
The main cause of pollution in bays are terrestrial sources: urban, industrial, mining,
agricultural and other kinds of waste. Although waste caused by port-maritime activities
has a significant effect in the deterioration of these ecosystems when not handled correctly.
Generally, Cuban bays show a growing deterioration of the quality of its waters and
coasts and degradation of the landscape, causing an important decrease in their uses
specially as a recreational landscape and its fishing use, and a lose in values in services
due to the presence of naval and shore facilities (Chabalina 1997).
To give an example of the conditions of Cuban bays we can mention two of them.
Havana Bay, is highly polluted due to numerous discharges from urban and industrial
waste sources that it receives through the rivers Luyano and Martin Perez at Guasabacoa
Cove and other sources that flow into Atares Cove and several direct industrial sources.
The main sources are from an oil refinery, a distillery, a yeast plant and two slaughter houses.
Since may 1996 project "Planning and Management of Highly Polluted Bays and coastal
Zones in the Great Caribbean Region" from GEF/UNOPS/UNEP is being carried out, which
includes studies of feasibility and preinvestiments on a set of solutions for environmental sanitation of Havana Bay. The first objective is to carry out studies that include treatment of industrial liquid waste which is dumped directly into the bay (whether from
industrial activity as such, from port activities or from moving sources). The second
objective aims at institutional strengthening, to achieve an increase in research, planning and cooperation capacities to carry out corrective measures. The third objective
is still being planned, and is aimed at attracting national and international financing
to implement the'resulting executive projects to carry out the first two objectives.
The second example, the Bay of Nipe: Is a productive, dynamic and healthy ecosystem with high values of dissolved oxygen and with zones that maintain an ecological
balance in almost alJ the bay. It has no problems of pollution from hydrocarbons nor
sanitation. However, there is a group of pollution sources that affect the bay:
• Mining runoff through river Mayari and Cajimaya stream, which is causing an important increase in heavy metal content in the sediments and a reddish coloration
in the estuarine waters.
• The torula factory and the sugar mill which produce nutrients and organic matter
which affect 30% of the bay area and cause a conflict between its use for fishing and
as a waste receptor.
• A slaughter house and the sewage drainage from several townships, which have a
lesser impact in the deterioration. .
To preserve the ecosystem, a set of measures have been proposed, which include:
for the torula plant, a previous treatment of the waste and the use of an oxidation lagoon; for the sugar mill and one of the townships, previous treatment and evacuation
through an underwater pipe; for the mining runoff, to create antipollution barriers.