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Environmental Issues
The Matanza basin is the most polluted river in Latin America and it is considered one of the ten most polluted places globally, with very high levels of lead. 25% of children living in urban slums along the water’s edge have lead in their bloodstreams, and even more suffer from gastrointestinal and respiratory illness.

Supreme Court lawsuit
In 2004, a group of residents of the Matanza basin, living in one of the worst-polluted urban slums, filed a case before the Supreme Court of Argentina, against the national government, the provincial government, the municipality, and several private companies. They were asking compensation for the environmental damages they faced as a consequence of the environmental contamination of the river, and they required the halting of contamination activities. In July 2008 the Argentinian Supreme Court issued its decision, recognising the federal government’s liability, together with the city and province of Buenos Aires, for the environmental damages in the river. The Court recognised the residents' right to a healthy environment and that the governments had to repair the damage. The Court ordered the governments to: (a) improve the quality of life for the people living in the area, (b) remediate the ecological damage of the basin and (c) prevent further contamination. However, the Court did not issue any decision with regard to the private companies involved. Five NGO s that had been active in the case - including Greenpeace - were also involved by the Court, that appointed them as patrols for the river and surrounding areas, to control how the improvements and works planned for the river basin were carried out.