Meeting the standard won by Greenpeace would generate ‘economic and social stress’
by Mexico News Daily
Authorities in Mexico City and México state have announced that they won’t comply with a court order to issue an environmental warning when pollution exceeds 100 points on the air quality index because it would cause “economic and social stress.”
Greenpeace was granted a definitive injunction on Monday dictating that contingency measures must be activated when the Imeca index, which measures the quantity of fine particulate contaminants in the air, hits 101.
Under the Mexico City government’s environmental contingency program, a contingency is declared when the Imeca index reaches 150.
While Greenpeace’s stricter pollution standard was endorsed by a judge, the non-governmental organization explained that the ruling allows authorities not to declare a contingency at the lower pollution threshold if doing so would adversely affect the economy, education, public and private transportation and the public in general.
But Greenpeace said that prioritizing the economy over people’s health would be irresponsible, highlighting that 17,000 people per year die in the Mexico City metropolitan area from illnesses related to air pollution.
However, the Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis (CAMe) and the environment secretariats in both Mexico City and México state say that is exactly what they will do.
Had the stricter standard applied since January 1, an environmental contingency would have been declared on all but 19 days so far this year, said CAMe chief Víctor Hugo Páramo.
He explained that around 200 gas stations and 11 LP gas plants would be forced to close on any given day when a warning is in effect.
In addition, more than 2,000 factories would have to reduce their production by 40%, Páramo said.
The CAMe chief also said that declaring a contingency at a lower pollution threshold doesn’t reduce air contamination, adding that people’s health is already protected by the dissemination of information about the risks of exposure to smog.
Mexico City Environment Secretary Marina Robles pointed out that a lot of the measures in Greenpeace’s more stringent standards, such as recommendations not to smoke on high-pollution days and for certain segments of the population to avoid going outdoors, are also set out in the government’s contingency program.
Source: El Universal (sp), La Jornada (sp)
Over 200 migrants found traveling in truck bearing Pepsi logos
The driver tried unsuccessful to bribe police to let them go
State and Federal Police officers detained 228 Central American migrants while they traveled through Chiapas hidden in a truck disguised with Pepsi logos.
Police gave chase on Highway 190 after the truck driver ignored officers’ requests to pull over. When authorities finally forced the truck to stop near Cintalapa, Chiapas, the driver and another man in the truck attempted to pay police an 80,000-peso bribe (US $4,176) to let them continue on their way.
Instead, police officers arrested the two and turned them over to the public prosecutor’s office.
Inside the truck authorities discovered 228 migrants, including many women and children and all from Central American countries. Police accompanied the migrants to the Cupapé migratory station in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, where they received medical attention, food and water.
Both PepsiCo and Grupo GEPP, the corporation’s distributor in Mexico, firmly denied any involvement in the incident. They said that the truck’s prominent Pepsi logos were false.
“The unit detained by authorities does not belong to our distribution fleet, nor is it the property of any company belonging to the group, which means that [the logos] were falsified.”
The corporation added that neither the driver nor the passenger are Pepsi employees and that the company did not authorize the use of its logo.
Source: Infobae (sp)
Puerto Morelos residents worry that burning is precursor to development
One resident got up at four in the morning and the whole area was full of smoke
Residents of Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, have spoken out against the burning of forest land, which they believe is a precursor to a new real estate development.
Complaints about the fires on social media caught the attention of Sebastián Torres Perdigón, a researcher in the Faculty of Science at the National Autonomous University.
After traveling to Puerto Morelos to investigate, he told the newspaper Reforma that jungle located near the El Faro residential estate is being set on fire at night.
Firefighters arrive to battle the blazes but fires are set again the very next night, Torres said.
“For two weeks, residents have been complaining that smoke is coming out of the jungle . . . In that area, they’re building new real estate developments in the El Faro, Quinta Mareta and La Palma residential estates,” he said.
“The fires start at about eight at night and continue until two or three in the morning, which is when the smoke begins to be noticed in the residential areas,” Torres added.
He said that trees extending across approximately three kilometers of land have been cleared, a process that residents fear is designed to bring about a land-use change to permit further residential development.
The presence of boundary markers was further evidence, Perdigón said.
During a June 29 visit to the site, the researcher said he noticed that two species of protected trees – the chechem or black poisonwood and zapote or Mexican apple – have also been cut down.
Juan Pedro García Trujillo, a resident of the El Faro estate, told Reforma that the fires have very nearly encroached on his home.
“My house is right next to the jungle, it’s only separated by a wire fence so for us it’s very evident. At night, you notice the smell of smoke. One night I got up at four in the morning and the whole place was full of smoke. We went outside and the jungle was on fire,” he said.
“The next day we walked around the site and saw several hectares had already been cleared. There is a federal road [next to the jungle] where high-voltage electricity lines run and some parts [of the lines] were still burning.”
Karen Daniela Hernández said the constant fires are not only clearing trees but also causing the displacement of fauna.
She and other Puerto Morelos residents have called on the National Forestry Commission and the Secretariat of Agrarian and Urban Planning to take action to stop the fires and to implement an orderly urban expansion strategy.
Source: Reforma (sp).
