By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com – Many people don’t understand the difference between sewers and storm drains in Panama City, and here’s why. In fact there are two drainage systems, one that’s supposed to handle all of the “black” water and human waste, and another that’s supposed to only handle rain runoff from the streets. [...]

Overflowing rivers and streams have flooded dozens of homes in the interior, and also caused a large amount of damage to the agricultural industry.
The flooding has caused several landslides in the Boquete area, which was hard-hit by flooding last November as well. Damage was reported in the community of Valle Escondido as well as in the [...]

By Vielka Corro Ríos for La Prensa – LA VILLA, Los Santos – Although the water level in the river La Villa started to go down, residents in the neighborhood of El Balo de La Villa in Los Santos remain concerned. Early Saturday morning some 26 people, including 16 minors, were evacuated because rising flood [...]

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean near Panama on Wednesday but authorities said they had no initial reports of damage. “We are monitoring the situation. For now there is no damage,” Arturo Alvarado De Icaza, the head of Panama’s civil defense agency, told Reuters.
The epicenter of the quake [...]

The pollution of a wetland in Corozal must not go unpunished, conservation groups said yesterday.
Alida Spadafora, director of the National Association for the Conservation of Nature, said existing laws should be applied firmly to serve as an example that environmental crimes will be punished.
Last Thursday, employees of Ocean Pollution Control (OPC) were surprised by officials [...]

Panama America – The Comptroller of the Republic endorsed three contracts worth a total of $413.4 million dollars to complete the last phase of the project to clean up the Bay of Panama. The Comptroller gave the green light to the three contracts, in spite of the differences he has had recently with the Minister [...]

Over 400 animals, mostly mammals, reptiles and amphibians, have been rescued in areas affected by the expansion of the Panama Canal. They have been caught by experts and were freed west of the canal later because of the dry excavation works advancing.
The idea is based on a plan to save wild animals before the excavators [...]

Gov. Sonny Perdue is leading a Georgia delegation on a four-day trip to Panama beginning Sept. 23 to discuss the Panama Canal expansion as it relates to the future of the state’s ports.
In time for its 100th anniversary 2014, the Panama Canal will have completed a $5.2 billion expansion project that will double capacity by building a larger [...]

The Electric Interconnection System for Central America (Siepac), which will facilitate the selling and buying of electricity between countries of the region, is now estimated to be launched in October 2011, nearly two years behind schedule.
The main obstacle in developing the project on time, has been the negotiation of legal issues regarding property rights in [...]

ATLANTA (AP) – Gov. Sonny Perdue plans to lead a state delegation to Panama to discuss Panama Canal expansion and the proposed Savannah Harbor expansion project.
Senior leaders from the Georgia Port Authority and the Georgia Department of Economic Development will accompany Perdue on the Sept. 23-26 trip. The trip is set to include a meeting [...]

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Panama City Beach City Council has scheduled workshops Tuesday and Wednesday to continue efforts to transform its building codes from use-based regulations to form-based codes better suited to an urban, tourist-friendly environment.
Form-based building codes focus more on the impact a building’s design has on the surrounding environment, pedestrian traffic and [...]

Some 800 officers from Panama’s Aeronaval Service are taking part in “Operation Panamax 2009,” which will conclude Sept. 22.
The military operation has taken place annually since 2003, but this is the first time that tactical maneuvers will be held on land, sea and in the air. Admiral Roberto García Márquez, of Colombia, who is in charge [...]

Alida Spadafora, of the National Association for the Conservation of Nature, Tuesday said that the group has filed four complaints over illegal logging in protected forest reserves in the Darién.
Spadafora said that the activities taking place in the province are a “disaster,” and said that they take place because there is no enforcement of environmental laws.
There have [...]

By Jessica Tason for La Critica – The company Ocean Pollution Control acted illegally because although they had a temporary permit to occupy an area of sea bottom and sea shore area, the permit expired in April of 2009 and in addition this permit did not allow them to build any kind of landfill or [...]

The government is planning the construction of a $600 million coal-burning power plant with a capacity to produce 300 megawatts.
It is expected that the contract to build the plant will be issued next year with an eye toward opening the plant in 2014, according to a source in the Office of the President.
This would be second [...]

A Panama City brothel had commercial ties with the rebel Revoluctionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Panama City mayor Bosco Vallarino said Wednesday.
According to Vallarino, the whorehouse, which operated at the high class neighborhood of Coco del Mar, was closed august 15 for clandestine prostitution in a diligence attended both by Vallarino and the country’s [...]

The Panama property market has remained largely unscathed by the global economic downturn, according to a survey conducted in Latin America.
A poll of international property experts carried out in by Encuentra24.com Real Estate and Classifieds Listings Portal found that 66% of respondents felt that the worldwide economic slump has had little impact on the property sector [...]

The country’s chief environmental agency, ANAM, must urgently implement more specialized laboratories to monitor environmental quality standards, according to environmental hygienist Santa Librada Alvarado.
Alvarado argued that such labs are needed to improve the enforcement of laws regulating water, soil, noise and air pollution levels throughout the country.
Ligia Castro, former administrator of the ANAM, denied the need for more labs, but acknowledged [...]

Mining is an important part of the country’s economy, contributing 1.1 percent to the Gross Domestic Product of Panama which translated into $193 million in revenue for the government in 2007.
But there are numerous negative aspects to the industry, specifically the environmental havoc wreaked by it.
In the province of Colón, the government has awarded nine contracts for exploration and [...]

BY Vielka Corro Ríos for La Prensa – SANTA ANA, Los Santos. A dead humpback whale about four meters long was found along the beach near the town of El Rompío in the area of Santa Ana, in the province of Los Santos.
Area resident María Delgado said the whale came out of the water at [...]