By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net

The government declared a national state of emergency yesterday, almost one week after fire consumed a chemical storage facility in the Caribbean port of Moín, leaving two dead and 20,000 residents without water.

On Dec. 13, a fire erupted at a storage facility run by Químicos Holanda that housed chemical solvents and caustic soda. As many watched on live TV, tanks of highly flammable chemicals exploded into an inferno that reached several stories high and sent a toxic plume wafting over the province (TT, Dec. 15).

Three people with serious burns were flown to San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José. Two of the victims --  identified by Channel 7 TV News as Geovanny Hernández, 32, and Greivin Cortés, 24, -- died from their injuries.

The emergency decree frees up government funds and allows the National Emergency Commission (CNE) to coordinate various government ministries' actions as they try to stem environmental contamination and monitor the health of area residents and emergency workers who fought the blaze.

Teams including technicians from the National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) and Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and specialists from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and Universidad Nacional (UNA) are testing for soil, water and air pollution in the region as they try to determine just how badly the disaster has harmed the environment.

Meanwhile, a team of 12 officials from the Public Health Ministry was set to travel to the region today to check the health of 8,000 residents. Health Minister María Luisa Avila explained at the press conference that possible short-term health effects caused by exposure to the chemicals or their fumes include respiratory and skin problems, which occur within the first 72 hours after exposure.

However, she said, the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja) has not reported an increase in reports of such problems, or cases that could be attributed to the accident. The minister said long-term effects depend on the intensity and length of time of exposure, and could include miscarriages and cancer.

See this Friday's print or electronic edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno yesterday held a press conference to recap the work Costa Rica has done this year in the realm of international relations and spell out some of the country's goals for next year.

During 2006, Costa Rica initiated diplomatic relations with several countries in the Arab world including Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan and Syria. Next year, Stagno said he hopes to open new embassies in India, Egypt and Singapore.

Additionally, the Foreign Ministry remodeled or relocated several Costa Rican consulates abroad including those in New York, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina, Austria and Israel.

Stagno also touted a couple of the projects President Oscar Arias' has promoted in discussions with world leaders at several events throughout the year including the Costa Rica Consensus, a proposal to take developing countries' military spending into account when considering aid, and Peace with Nature, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions and protect forests. Arias' administration will continue to seek support for these programs next year, Stagno said.

Costa Rica will continue to vie for a spot on the United Nations Security Council, he said, adding that the country has support from countries around the world, though he declined to name them.

“We have concrete proposals we want to bring to the Security Council,” such as reforms to the council's methodology, the creation of a high commission against terrorism and plans to focus more on the environment, Stagno said.

On national soil, the ministry did some house cleaning this year, eliminating unnecessary phone lines, reviewing its budget and adjusting the living allowances of its employees abroad to be in line with cost-of-living reports published by the United Nations.

The Foreign Ministry remains the only one still behind with its payments to the Social Security System (Caja) and has plans to cancel these debts shortly, Stagno said.

Intern ational Police (INTERPOL) yesterday arrested a French doctor, identified as Daniel Andre Lagalie, convicted of sexually abusing a mentally retarded young man in Paris, according to a statement from INTERPOL.

Lagalie was sentenced by a French judge to 20 years in prison for molesting the young man in February 2003, but he fled the country before serving time, the statement.

Lagalie abused the young man on several occasions beginning in 1994 at his office in Paris. In 1995, he filmed one of the illicit acts. He came to Costa Rica in 2000 from the United States and had since entered and left the country several times to Panama, Guatemala and the United States, the statement said.

Police had been observing Lagalie at his home in Ciudad Colón, southwest of San José, where he lived with another man. He was arrested yesterday at a supermarket in Escazú and faces deportation to France.

-Tico Times