Environment shutters quarries on media buzz

Santo Domingo.- Environment minister Bautista Rojas on Monday halted material extractions of two of the four quarries operating in the country’s Northern Mountain Range for failing to comply with environmental standards.

He said the extractions were halted for 60 days pending compliance of the Ministry’s environmental remediation plan enacted last year.

The measure adheres to Law 64-00 adopted by Rojas during an inspection last Friday, once learning of the situation through the media.

He said the remediation plan requires the planting of over 60,000 native trees to protect and preserve the forests where the extraction was stopped.

The official said he visited the two quarries close to Santiago’s Beltway where one of the companies would have to plant 30,000 trees and the other, 50,000 trees in the area during the next 30 days. "I instructed the halt to operations until the remediation concludes; they now have a responsibility to remedy any damage that could be caused to the ecosystems where they work.”