After Venezuela's quakes, experts say environmental and health risks have just begun

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — More than a month has passed since Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes, and the constant sound of heavy machinery still echoes through the hardest-hit neighborhoods of La Guaira on the northern coast.

Dust from collapsed buildings hangs in the humid air. Garbage has piled up. Families camp outside homes deemed too dangerous to enter. Water trucks weave through damaged streets.

“The smell of corpses is very strong" in some neighborhoods, said Carolina de Jesús, Venezuela project director for the humanitarian organization Project HOPE, who has spent nearly every day in the region since the quakes.

Public health and environmental experts told The Associated Press the coming weeks are critical to preventing secondary crises caused by contaminants from the rubble and rebuilding.

Government figures say the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes on June 24 killed over 5,000 people, injured nearly 17,000 and left almost 18,000 homeless. Authorities have not said how many remain missing, though estimates put the figure in the tens of thousands. The World Bank estimates the quakes caused $19.6 billion in direct physical damage.

Survivors are now experiencing the environmental costs in a region where Venezuela’s health system was already weakened by years of economic crisis.

There is “hope, but also enormous pressure over what will happen tomorrow,” de Jesús said.

Among those still searching for loved ones is Mary Cruz Andueza. The tower where her mother lived, part of a government housing program launched under late President Hugo Chávez, collapsed.

“I don’t know if she’s alive, if she’s dead, if she’s in a hospital or still beneath the rubble,” the 35-year-old Andueza said.

She said she became sick after spending days near the rubble.

“The dust made me seriously ill,” she said. “We’ve had coughs, allergies, fever and headaches because we’re working so close to the collapsed buildings every day.”

Managing an estimated 1.2 million tons of debris caused by the quakes is a major environmental challenge. Much of the rubble could be contaminated with fuels, motor oil, paints, solvents, plastics and other hazardous materials released when buildings fell.

That has raised concerns that pollutants could spread if the debris is not properly sorted and disposed of. In La Guaira, steep mountains rise behind densely populated communities, leaving little space.

Authorities are separating contaminated debris from reusable material. Concrete and other recyclable waste will be used in reconstruction, while contaminated material — such as asbestos, chemicals, fuel residues and other hazardous waste — will need to be disposed at specialized facilities, according to Joaquín Benítez, director of Environmental Sustainability at Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas.

Benítez said he had seen reports that some debris may have been dumped along the coast or into the sea during the initial emergency response as authorities raced to clear blocked roads. Local journalists said the practice was halted after the first few days.

If debris containing fuels or other hazardous materials reaches coastal waters, contaminants could affect water quality and marine ecosystems. Large volumes of sediment and construction waste could reshape shorelines and damage coastal habitats.

Diego Díaz Martín, president of environmental organization Vitalis, said seasonal rains could trigger landslides on earthquake-weakened hillsides. He also warned that damage to sensitive ecosystems may remain undetected because many affected areas have yet to be assessed.

Martín said the recovery effort should include work to reduce future environmental risks, and called on authorities to rebuild outside landslide-prone areas.

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to questions about its response to the environmental and public health impacts of the earthquake.

Access to safe drinking water has become one of the biggest challenges. Even where tanker trucks are supplying communities, de Jesús said, that does not necessarily mean the water has been properly treated.

Unsafe water and inadequate sanitation are contributing to diarrheal diseases, urinary tract infections, skin infections and conditions that allow mosquito-borne diseases to spread, she said.

“Earthquakes do not cause outbreaks by themselves. The risk comes from the post-disaster conditions,” said Dr. Mauricio Cerpa, an epidemiologist with the Pan American Health Organization’s Emergency Operations Center.

Overcrowded shelters, disrupted water and sanitation systems, interrupted healthcare and reduced vaccination coverage create the conditions in which disease can spread, he said.

Cerpa said authorities have identified 18 priority diseases and public health issues requiring immediate notification, including diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, dengue, malaria and measles. Venezuela’s vaccination coverage had already fallen below recommended levels before the earthquakes, increasing concerns about crowded conditions.

Health officials said disease surveillance in temporary shelters has become an immediate priority. PAHO said health teams are supporting vaccination campaigns and improving water and sanitation conditions.

Cerpa said thousands of people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension could face increasing risks if health services remain disrupted.

Thousands of volunteers and humanitarian workers have joined relief efforts amid criticism of the speed and coordination of the official response.

De Jesús said some have developed respiratory illnesses after weeks of breathing silica and cement dust released as collapsed buildings are cleared. Others have suffered dehydration and diarrheal illnesses during long days in the heat.

“One of the main challenges is how to recover all the essential care,” Cerpa said, noting that hospitals must resume treatment for people with chronic illnesses while meeting growing demand for disease surveillance, mental health services and maternal care.

Alycia Clark, Direct Relief’s vice president and chief pharmacy officer, said the earthquakes compounded longstanding shortages of medicines, healthcare workers and medical infrastructure, leaving many patients at risk of missing routine care.

Public health and environmental experts said the next phase of recovery will focus on restoring safe water and sanitation, rebuilding essential health services and managing environmental hazards before they create new emergencies.

Clark said the immediate trauma response would give way to a much longer public health challenge.

“The needs are only going to increase from this point forward,” she said.

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FILE - Men searching for survivors stand atop a mountain of rubble three days after twin earthquakes struck, in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

FILE - A man sits amid earthquake rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

FILE - Health workers ride in a truck on their way to join earthquake relief efforts in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

FILE - People affected by the earthquakes line up for food in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

FILE - Rescue workers and volunteers search through the rubble of a building collapsed during the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general stalled Wednesday as lawmakers scrapped a planned committee vote after key Republicans demanded more assurances about the settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to vote Thursday to advance Blanche’s nomination to the floor. But two Republican senators who could sink Blanche’s prospects have said they won't support him without additional clarity from the Justice Department about the controversial settlement.

A spokeswoman for the committee said in a statement Wednesday night that the vote would be postponed. It came after hours of negotiations between the Justice Department and Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis.

At the center of the fight is the settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS that included a deal to drop tax claims against the president and a now-scrapped plan to create a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate people who believe they were wronged by the Justice Department. The Justice Department said in June that it was no longer moving forward with the “Anti-Weaponization Fund" amid bipartisan outrage but officials have said the audit immunity agreement remains in place.

Blanche didn’t answer shouted questions from reporters as he left Capitol Hill, where he had been meeting with senators Wednesday. A person familiar with the matter said the Justice Department had provided Cornyn’s office with a written proposal seeking to address his concerns around the audit immunity agreement and the fund. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about sensitive discussions surrounding Blanche’s confirmation.

Trump on Wednesday downplayed any concerns about Blanche's path to confirmation, calling his attorney general pick and former personal attorney “outstanding."

“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump told reporters in response to questions about the senator's demands.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the state's Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, easily defeating Cornyn. Trump had endorsed Paxton.

Some lawmakers have questioned whether the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” could be resurrected absent a commitment in writing from the Trump administration that it is dead, especially since Trump has expressed continued support for the idea. Blanche had previously resisted requests for a formal written retraction, though he told senators at his confirmation hearing earlier this month that the administration would be willing to help craft legislation to bar the creation of the fund.

Cornyn has also demanded clarification from the Justice Department on the scope of the tax immunity deal. He has pressed the administration to modify that piece of the settlement to make clear that it covers only existing audits and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

“We're been trying to help them get to a conclusion here and they won't let us. It's befuddling to me,” Cornyn said.

The settlement resulting from Trump's lawsuit over his leaked tax returns has drawn intense scrutiny both in Congress and in court. The judge handling the case said in a scathing ruling earlier this month that Trump had effectively engaged in self-dealing through the lawsuit and that she was troubled Blanche had signed the settlement, given his prior representation of Trump.

Blanche has said he disagrees “with the judge’s insinuations" about him.

Associated Press reporters Seung Min Kim and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)