But residents around Los Desamparados tell Al Jazeera a very different story.
Thick, white smoke is released from VERI’s factory at least a few times a month, they say, usually during the night or early in the morning, or when it is raining – and at times during the day.
Al Jazeera did not witness any emissions being released from VERI’s factory during its visits to the neighbourhood but, even without the smoke, this reporter’s eyes and lips began burning; itchy skin rashes, along with a sore throat and cough developed after about 30 minutes of conducting interviews around the factory.
Butler says “no ‘smoke’ comes out of the tower, just warm air”.
German says that his father, who died at 86 in 2018, developed severe breathing issues soon after VERI began its operations. “My father had to stay in the house all day because he couldn’t handle the gas,” German says. “He would just be talking normally and suddenly he would start choking, like he was suffocating and couldn’t breathe. And this is what eventually killed him.”
German’s father also began experiencing convulsions and seizures, which are symptoms of severe lead poisoning. German himself has been gripped with seizures several times.
In 2018, Haina activists hired Mirsa, a Dominican environmental consulting company to investigate the alleged contamination. The company took samples of the air quality and soil around the VERI factory and found dangerously high levels of lead and chromium, a highly toxic substance linked to respiratory cancers and skin irritation, along with organ and permanent eye damage.
Butler says that Mirsa had “lied” in their report and that the company has a “poor reputation”, adding that VERI has since taken legal action against Mirsa. Alexander Rodriquez, operations manager at Mirsa, strongly denied these allegations to Al Jazeera. He noted that the company solely collected the samples, processed in the US, and presented the results in the report.
Mirsa’s report was also used by residents in Haina to bring VERI to court in 2018, demanding the closure of the factory.
Rodriquez confirmed that VERI had sued Mirsa, but says the courts ruled in Mirsa’s favor and Mirsa has since responded by suing VERI for damages.
Butler sent Al Jazeera a 2019 report detailing a study by Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, a private university in the capital, which was carried out at the behest of VERI. The report shows that air samples taken around the factory contained levels of lead within the accepted limits.
In 2019, residents of Los Desamparados were able to collect enough funds to take blood samples from 12 people living around the VERI factory. The results, which were seen by Al Jazeera, showed six tested positive for lead poisoning, with four having levels as high as 65µg/dl.
They have taken their findings to the Dominican government. But for more than two years, nothing has been done about the lead poisoning, according to residents, including any comprehensive investigation by the government.
“The ‘alleged community groups’ [waging the court battle] are part of a ‘fake news’ campaign” funded by illegal competitors wanting to discredit the company, Butler says.
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources declined to comment on the matter, saying it could not comment because of the ongoing court case.
In its 2020 environmental audit, the ministry found one serious environment-related non-compliance at the VERI plant, which involved contaminated run-off rainwater from the factory grounds.
Butler sent Al Jazeera a 2020 official letter from the Ministry of Public Health that states there is no evidence of health damage among people allegedly exposed to lead in Haina.
However, Al Jazeera spoke with almost two dozen residents in Haina who reported serious health problems that they attribute to VERI, along with other companies they say are contributing to the contamination.
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