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Health, Sports and Wellness Expo
Product exhibits, stands, Aug. 12-15, Plaza Real Cariari, Ciudad Cariari, Heredia. Info: 8863-5509, 8827-9172.

Faith Akin Film Festival
“Auf der anderen Seite,” Aug. 12; “Solino,” Aug. 19; “Crossing the Bridge,” Aug. 26; “Gegen die Wand,” Sept. 2, all at 6 p.m., Sala Gómez Miralles, Centro de Cine, Av. 9, Ca. 11, behind INS. Info: 2290-9091, ext. 102.

Baden-Wuërttemberg Youth Band in Concert
From Germany, Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, Av. 2, Ca. Ctrl./2. Info: 2283-5027.

Music at Dusk
Piano and classical singing recital, Aug. 12, 5:10 p.m., National Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 3/5. Info: 2221-5341.

Soprano María Marta López in Concert
Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m., Chateau 1525 restaurant, Cuesta de Moras, San José. Info: 2248-9337, 2255-4242.

20th Credomatic Music Festival
TENET (U.S.), a capella, Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m., Alta Hotel, Alto de las Palomas, old road to Santa Ana.

The Marine Turtle Restoration Program (Pretoma) is preparing to file a formal complaint with Costa Rica's Environment Tribunal against Agropecuario Caletas S.A. for allegedly spraying harmful chemicals on a wildlife refuge in the northwestern province of Guanacaste.  

Pretoma charges that a plane from the farming company sprayed toxic chemicals over the Caletas-Arío National Wildlife Refuge, poisoning the area's wildlife.  

A Pretoma volunteer who was on patrol at the Caletas refuge on July 20 filmed a crop duster spraying a liquid over a field that the group claims is within the refuge. The video also shows dozens of dead fish and crabs on the beach shortly after the spraying.

Andy Bystrom, a spokesman for Pretoma, said the chemicals released over the area drained into a nearby mangrove wetland and then entered the Río Bongo, killing the river's fish and crabs.

The video has been posted on YouTube.

Agropecuario Caletas S.A. denies the charges and claims that the video could have been shot in any part of Costa Rica, not necessarily Caletas.

“That's what they always say, but we have all kinds of witnesses,” Randall Arauz, director of Pretoma, said.

Ana Ventura, the volunteer who filmed the video, recalled a “strong poison smell” and said that after the plane passed, “most of the volunteers ran to get T-shirts to cover their noses and mouths.”

Arauz said he is gathering information and will present the case to the Environment Tribunal next week.

Last year, Pretoma filed a complaint against Agropecuario Caletas S.A. for illegally excavating land in order to build a road near the refuge.

The Environment Tribunal imposed a $30,000 fine on the company for the earthmoving and ordered the group to repair the damages. The payment is still pending.

A number of high-impact bills are due to land on legislators' desks this month as the Executive Branch takes charge of their agenda during this month's extraordinary session.

Among the priorities for President Laura Chinchilla's administration are a revamped Electricity Law, a new tax on casinos and sportsbooks, and a bill to ban all heavy-metal open-pit mines in the country.

“What we sent (to the Legislative Assembly) is consistent with our government's program,” said Chinchilla, in explaining her list of bills. “We have also been flexible with the understanding that in order to achieve support for these initiatives, we also need to open ourselves to the priorities of the other parties (in the assembly).”

The bill to tax betting houses has been under discussion for years, but is the linchpin in funding for Chinchilla's long-discussed security initiative. Although few taxes are popular, the bill has surprisingly gotten the thumbs-up from many online gambling establishments because it would legalize an activity that is receiving increasing scrutiny from law enforcement agencies overseas.

Facing a potential crisis in the energy situation in the country, the Electricity Law seeks to open the market to private companies that place emphasis on clean energy. Teófilo de la Torre, the energy, environment and telecommunications minister, said the country must double its capacity to generate electricity over the next decade, which will require a $1 billion investment.

Also under discussion is a bill to create a Sports Ministry, a proposal to exempt all real estate owned by religious organizations from property taxes, and a request to approve the free-trade agreement with China.

The congressional session referred to as sesiones extraordinarias, in which the president controls the agenda, lasts until the end of August. The Legislative Assembly returns to Chinchilla's agenda in December, February, March and April. Legislators set their own agenda for the remaining months, which include May, June, July, September, October and November.

The Public Services Company of Heredia (ESPH) announced last Friday the initiation of a sewer and wastewater treatment project in the province of Heredia.

$30 million in government funds for the project's first phase have been secured, with future financing available through Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, said Francisco Angulo, the project's spokesman and head of research and development for ESPH.

Currently, the only existing sewer system in Heredia is in the central canton. These waters flow into an open area south of the city known as the “cloacas,” or raw sewerage zone, and receive no treatment.

The first phase of the project, which Angulo estimates will take five to seven years to complete, will involve construction of a treatment plant and installation of a sewer system in the towns of San Isidro and San Rafael de Heredia, as well as expanding the existing network in the central canton.

In roughly three weeks, the ESPH will open an international bid for the project. The company hired will undertake a feasibility study and design the sewer system and treatment plant.

Angulo said the project is needed to protect the aquifers and underground springs in this water-rich province, adding that water from septic systems are prone to leak and pollute underground waters. Angulo said Heredia supplies 70 percent of the Central Valley's drinking water.

The first phase of the project will be designed to allow for expansion of the sewer system to other cantons of Heredia over the next two decades.

Vice President Alfio Piva, in attendance at the project's inauguration, said, “The effective treatment of wastewaters is fundamental, given that water is the main source of a country's development. A project such as this one will not only improve the quality of life for all Heredians, but will allow the country to truly utilize its natural resources.”