Pollution in Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo threatens life in one of the world's oldest lakes
Associated Press
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A cat walks over waste lining the shore of Lake Maracaibo in the Santa Rosa de Agua neighborhood of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Ignacio cleans a fish he caught in Lake Maracaibo, in the Santa Rosa de Agua neighborhood of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)An oil-stained fishing net is stored in a home in San Francisco, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. The pollution around the Lake Maracaibo, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A woman hand washes her laundry with water from Lake Maracaibo in San Francisco, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A man shovels away invading polluted water from the inside of a thatched roof hut posted on the shore of Lake Maracaibo contaminated with oil and trash, in San Francisco, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A boy tugs at a piece of garbage embedded along the shore of Lake Maracaibo as part of a cleaning campaign, in Santa Rita, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A pig, coated with a thick greenish film that grows on the lake, sniffs the ground while foraging near the shore of Lake Maracaibo, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Residents gather on a seawall as passengers ride a boat on Lake Maracaibo, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The lake has turned into a polluted wasteland, with crude leaking from rusting oil platforms and cracked pipelines. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Fisherman Oscar Luzardo navigates his boat past an oil stain on Lake Maracaibo near the municipality of San Francisco, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The lake has turned into a polluted wasteland, with crude leaking from rusting oil platforms and cracked pipelines. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A thick greenish film covers trash and plastics polluting the waters of Lake Maracaibo, as fishermen prepare their bait in the background, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Fishermen spread out their net on the banks of Lake Maracaibo contaminated with oil and trash, in San Francisco, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Oil and trash litter the shore of Lake Maracaibo in the municipality of San Francisco, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Oil waste stains the waters of Lake Maracaibo in San Francisco, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. The lake has turned into a polluted wasteland, with crude leaking from rusting oil platforms and cracked pipelines. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A boy walks between stilt houses, on the water's edge of Lake Maracaibo in the Santa Rosa de Agua neighborhood of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Family portraits and paintings adorn the walls of a stilt home that sits on the water's edge of Lake Maracaibo in the Santa Rosa de Agua neighborhood of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Thatched roof huts line the shore of Lake Maracaibo contaminated with oil and aquatic trash, in San Francisco, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
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A cat walks over waste lining the shore of Lake Maracaibo in the Santa Rosa de Agua neighborhood of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. The pollution around the lake, one of Latin America's largest, is the result of decades of excessive oil exploitation on its bed, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of investment to improve an already obsolete infrastructure, according to environmentalists. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)