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Frontera NorteSur
December 2001/January 2002

ENVIRONMENT


State Ecology Department in Méxicali to Begin Working with Companies

Enrique Villegas Ibarra, director of Baja Caifornia's Dirección de Ecología (Ecology Department) in Méxicali, has said that his office will stop acting like an environmental police force that makes surprise visits to companies in the city. Instead, the Dirección will begin working with companies in an advisory role to make sure that they comply with state environmental laws. In the past, the department's six inspectors had to make surprise visits to the city's five hundred companies.

Villegas told the Méxicali newspaper La Crónica that the Dirección de Ecología will be much more effective once it starts working with companies to help them avoid problems. In the past, companies and the government spent--and lost--much time on drawn-out legal proceedings. The Dirección's new role should help small and medium-size companies gain a better knowledge of environmental law.

Villegas also said that his office will begin environmental education programs with the city, the Secretaría de Educación and the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional.

Source: La Crónica, November 27, 2001. Article by Eneida Sánchez Zambrano.

San Luis To Consider Strict Environmental Code

In the coming weeks, the San Luis Río Colorado city council will consider a new, seventeen-part environmental code. These new city environmental protection regulations are aimed at preventing pollution and conserving and restoring the city's natural environment. The new legislation will prohibit the dumping of waste in rivers, stream beds, public areas and near roads. All open-air waste burning will also be prohibited.

The new regulations ban loud noises and vibrations near housing, schools, hospitals and other public places throughout the city. Painting cars and furniture outside is also prohibited.

People that break the new regulations may be fined up to the equivalent of US$80,000 and can be jailed for as long as 36 hours.

Source: La Crónica (San Luis), November 5, 2001. Article by Santiago Barroso Alfaro.

Lack of Solid Waste Removal Infrastructure in Tijuana

José Luis León Romero, the new head of the Tijuana City Works and Public Services Office (Dirección de Obras y Servicios Públicos), said that Tijuana's solid waste management effort and budget are only half of what they should be to assure the proper disposal of garbage. León also stated that the city needs 6 million pesos (approximately US$650,000) to keep its waste-collection system operating and 60 million pesos (approximately US$6.5 million) in investment to clean up the citywide backlog of unremoved or illegally dumped garbage.

One source of problems for León's office is that there is a shortage of collection trucks, León said. Furthermore, 30% of the city's collection fleet is broken down and in need of repair.

Another problem is that waste transfer stations lack a sufficient number of waste compacting machines. This means that the stations cannot receive all the waste they otherwise could, according to León.

Due to the lack of waste-removal resources, León believes that illegal dumps have sprung up around the city. In other parts of Tijuana, garbage accumulates for a long time before it can be removed, he said.

Source: Frontera (Tijuana), November 4, 2001. Article by Jaime Velázquez.

Nuevo Laredo: 600 Waterline Breaks Per Month

Arturo Cortés Villada, director of Nuevo Laredo's Comisión de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado (Drinking Water and Sewer Commission, Comapa), says that the city water system experiences 600 waterline breaks per month, an average of 21 per day. Comapa estimates that these breaks can waste 25% of the water produced in Nuevo Laredo's two water treatment plants.

Despite having six repair teams of six people each, Comapa can fix only half of the 600 waterline breaks that occur each month. The rest of the breaks and leaks are dealt with during the next month. However, Cortés said that the most serious waterline breaks are dealt with immediately.

The city also receives an average of 18 complaints per day about blocked sewer lines. These are all dealt with on a daily basis so that complaints do not begin to accumulate.

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), November 6, 2001. Article by Lesy Karina Mendoza.