Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Angel Rodriguez lives in the city of Arecibo on the island of Puerto Rico. He is a surfer. Surfing is a popular activity all around the world. People ride ocean waves while standing on long boards. Many people surf as just for fun. But Angel Rodriguez surfs for a job. Angel teaches surfing. He also leads Puerto Rico’s national surf team. But Angel’s surfing has also made him an environmentalist.
Today’s spotlight is on Angel Rodriguez and his fight to protect the beach where he surfs.
Voice 2
One day in the year 2000, Angel received a call from a friend. He answered the telephone and received some shocking news. His friend told Angel, “They are tearing apart our beach!” His friend said that large machines were damaging the coast where they surfed.
Voice 1
Angel got into his truck and hurried to the beach. What he saw angered him. It made him worried for the future of the area. He saw a large pipe in the middle of the beach. Wet sand, dirt, rocks, old car tires and other pollution flowed out of the pipe. This pollution pumped onto the sandy beach. But it was also pumping onto the coral reef in the water near the beach.
Voice 2
Coral reefs are large areas of hard coral where many animals live. The coral looks like rock but it is alive. The hard coral is the outer skeleton of the animals. They create the reef. Coral reefs are very delicate areas. Many different kinds of animals live in coral reefs. The coral reef in Arecibo is part of the beach. The pollution was harming the coral and all the animals living there. A healthy reef makes good surfing waves. If the reef becomes damaged, the surfing may not be as good. The waste coming out of the pipe was damaging the reef in Arecibo.
Voice 1
So why was the pollution being pumped onto the beach? Well, the United States Army Corps of Engineers was clearing an area of the sea floor. They were digging up the material to make a better pathway for ships. But this man-made path was very dirty and polluted. The United States Army was allowed to pump the waste onto the beach because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. The United States has an army base on the island. The army needed to make sure that their ships could reach the base. But Angel did not think they needed to pump the waste onto the reef.
Voice 2
Angel went back to tell his friends what was happening. The news made them angry too. They made a plan to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from ruining the coast. They went down to the beach. They stood on the pipe that was pumping the waste. When the flow of waste stopped, the men stood inside the pipe. Each man stood in the pipe for four hours. After the four hours finished, another man stood in the pipe for another four hours. The Army Corps could not pump waste out of the pipe if people blocked it.
Voice 1
The Army Corps did not think that it was doing anything wrong. But to the surfers, it appeared that the Army Corps was breaking United States environmental law. So Angel Rodriguez decided to sue the army. He brought them to court in protest.
Voice 2
Angel protested in another way too. He wore the clothes of a super hero. He wore a cover on his face. He wore colorful clothes. He wanted people to look at him. He wanted to tell people about what was happening to the coral reef.
Voice 1
To continue the protest, Angel bought a large doll shaped like a human. He put the doll deep into the pipe. When Army Corps officials looked in the pipe, they thought a real person was inside. This simple act extended the surfers’ protest another four days.
Voice 2
The Army Corps began to question their plan. The United States government sent down an environmental official to investigate. He threatened to arrest the protestors. But the surfers understood their legal rights. They demanded to see the official’s documents. The government official did not have the correct documents. So the surfers continued to protest.
Voice 1
People in Arecibo began to learn about what was happening on the coast. The surfers were informing people about the problem. Soon, an environmental lawyer, Miguel Sarriera, decided to help the surfers. He helped the surfers fight in a legal court.
Voice 2
The surfers’ lawyer said that the Army Corps was lying to the people. He said the Army Corps stated that they were not doing anything wrong. The army said that they were creating a beach for families in the area to use. But it was clear that they were not pumping clean sand for a family beach. The army was pumping waste. They were making the beach unhealthy.
Voice 1
The Army Corps said that engineers did all the correct research. They said that they made sure it was safe to dump the waste. But lawyers discovered that the engineers had researched a different location. The Army Corps had permission to pump the waste far away from the coast. But army officials wanted to save money. So, they decided to pump the waste onto the surfer’s beach and reef.
Voice 2
After four years of fighting in court, the surfers won the legal case. Army engineers agreed to clean up all the waste they pumped onto the ocean floor. The waste will be removed but the damage will take a long time to heal. It will take over ten [10] years for the reef to repair itself.
Voice 1
The surfers are happy they saved the reef. They could protected the environment. And they can continue to surf in clean water.
Riki DeSoto helped lead the protest against what happened to the Arecibo coast. He believes that surfers are an important part of a coastal community and environment.
Voice 3
“Surfers are affected people. They tell people about contamination, pollution and everything that is happening in the coast and beach. You know, we are the first ones out there so you got to respect your beach. You must protect the environment in which you improve yourself. Surfers should be like soldiers. Their job is the protection and enjoyment of the beach and the coast.”
Voice 2
Do you know what is happening in your local environment? If there were a problem, would you be willing to fight to save it? The surfers in Arecibo were. And today they are ready to fight any environmental battle that comes their way.
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