An island of trash has formed on Guatemala's Lake Amatitlan, which experts say is linked to industrialization in the capital city area. Officials are fighting against the water's degradation by removing dozens of truckloads of garbage every day. - REUTERS
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00:00This island in Guatemala is made of garbage.
00:04There are plastic bottles, tires, sofas, even human remains have been found here.
00:11Local residents are worried about it. They fish in Lake Amatitlan and make a living from it.
00:18Tourism boat driver Celestino de la Cruz says he remembers when the lake was crystal clear.
00:26Now it's more of a greenish hue.
00:30I don't know why the lake has deteriorated. It's a shame to see it, he says.
00:35Part of the problem, experts say, is industrialization in Guatemala City's
00:39metropolitan area. Rivers carry contaminated water to the lake, which leads to excess nitrogen
00:46and propels the growth of a toxic blue-green algae.
00:50There have been laws since 2006 seeking to control nitrogen levels in the lake.
00:55And surrounding municipalities got funding for water treatment plants, but
01:00those resources were reallocated.
01:02The Agency for Sustainable Management of the lake says it's removing about a hundred trucks
01:07of trash a day, even during the heavy rains of the winter season.
01:12They placed a retention barrier on the lake's surface that's more than a mile long.
01:19We all have the intention to save the lake.
01:22It is our hope that one day we will be able to save it,
01:25says trash extraction manager Yuri Giovanni.
01:29He says without those efforts, the lake would probably be a swamp by now.
01:35The agency says over 190,000 cubic feet of trash has been scooped up this year alone.
01:42That's more than two Olympic-sized swimming pools.