Official: Rio won’t meet cleanup pledge

RIO DE JANEIRO – Rio de Janeiro will not make good on its Olympic pledge of slashing the flow of raw sewage and garbage into the Guanabara Bay, where the 2016 games’ sailing and wind surfing competitions are to be held, the state’s top environmental official acknowledged Friday.

Brazilian officials’ promise to cut the flow of pollutants into the bay by 80 percent was a key part of the city’s Olympic bid document and widely held up as among the most enduring legacies of the games. But with just 1 1/2 years to go before the showcase event, it has become increasingly clear that the target wouldn’t be met.

Rio’s new state environment secretary, Andre Correa, told reporters he couldn’t provide an estimate of how much officials would actually succeed in cutting the flow of pollutants into the bay.

“Removing 80 percent of the pollutants? It’s not going to happen, it’s not going to happen,” said Correa, who took office earlier this month.

Still, he insisted that regardless of how far the cleanup progresses, the Olympic events won’t be compromised.

“From the point of view of the Olympics, the point of view of water quality, what I’ve said about the 80 percent does not at all affect the courses” for the sailing events, Correa said. “There’s no big risk for sailors having troubles with illnesses and such things.”

“I’m not worried about the water quality in those areas, I’m much more worried about floating garbage there,” he said, adding that the so-called “eco-barriers,” nets that are strung along the mouth of rivers and meant to filter out garbage before it enters the bay, “aren’t working well at all.”

“I’m going to change that,” he promised.

Sailors’ associations have expressed reservations about water quality as well as the garbage, both of which they say could harm sailors’ health. Olympic sailors have described the 2016 venue as a “sewer,” complaining of the stench at the events’ main venue, the Gloria Marina, and describing having to dodge floating sofas, animal carcasses, and plastic trash bags that foul rudders in the open waters. A few sailors have said they got sick after falling into the bay.

Correa said he wasn’t sure whether Olympic authorities have been informed that the cleanup pledge will not be met.