Frontera NorteSur July  2003

Alma Leticia Figueroa, director of the Ciudad Juárez office of environment and civil protection (Ecología y Protección Civil), told the Cd. Juárez newspaper El Norte that the office is considering construction of an incinerator that would burn maquiladora waste. Currently, maquiladora waste that comes from material imported into Cd. Juárez is returned to its country of origin. 

Figueroa said that the presence of an incinerator would save money for maquiladoras since they would no longer have to pay to export waste out of Mexico. The city would benefit from having an incineration facility and could pay for it by charging the maquiladoras to burn their waste. 

The idea for the project is based on an incinerator currently operating in the US state of Virginia, Figueroa stated. Along with representatives from other Mexican states, Figueroa recently visited the site as a part of a program that seeks ways to manage solid waste and various sorts of recycling opportunities. 

Other possible projects that were brought to Figueroa's attention while on the trip included a tire recycling facility. Used vehicle tires, which do not degrade when exposed to the elements and which hold water that mosquitoes can breed in, are a health and environmental threat to Ciudad Juárez. 

To help deal with the city's tire problem, Figueroa is looking into a plant that would shred tires and turn them into material that can be used for paving roads and other sorts of applications. 

The environment and civil protection office is also looking into solid-waste separation technology that would sort out valuable recyclable materials such as newspaper, cardboard and aluminum. The city could then resell the material and reduce the amount of solid waste put in landfills. 

Source: El Norte, June 1, 2003. Article by Juan de Dios Olivas.

BC Environmentalists Look at Recent Threats to State

Renowned throughout the world for its scenic beauty, ecological importance and diversity, Baja California is facing significant environmental challenges that have presented themselves over the last few years, say members of environmental organizations from Mexico and the US. 

A large-scale development project aimed at bringing tourists to the state, the Escalera Náutica (Nautical Ladder), may threaten marine species in the Gulf of California. If implemented, natural gas projects could impact coastal areas and electrical plants might affect air quality, say critics of these developments. In the mountains, logging affects parks and hunting of Peninsular bighorn sheep may resume before populations studies of the species are completed. 

    Escalera Náutica

An article in the Mexicali newspaper La Crónica explored environmentalists' views of the new projects. In Baja California, both scientists and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have severely criticized the Escalera Náutica tourism project for the beaches and ports of the Baja Peninsula and the western coast of Mexico. The plan's intent is to increase boating, beach visits and golfing in some of Mexico's most beautiful scenic areas. La Crónica notes that roads, ports and runways will be built in states involved with the Escalera. 

Sonya Diehn of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) in Tucson, Arizona said that the mega-project will affect diverse ecosystems and will severely contaminate the areas it develops. 

Some of the more notable species that could be affected by the Escalera Náutica include the gray whale, sea turtle, totoaba, and peninsular bighorn sheep. 

    Peninsular bighorn sheep and logging

State officials and criminals are destroying, little by little, the natural environment in Baja California, according to Alberto Tapia Landeros, a researcher and professor of environmental law at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC). 

"The possibility of a return to hunting bighorn sheep is a clear example of this," said Tapia. He also stated that although federal environmental officials responsible for BC have not done a census of the Peninsular bighorn sheep population, they are already arriving at agreements with various sectors to allow once again the hunting of the animal. 

Rubén Castro Bójorquez, president of a UABC governing body, said that UABC's official position is that a ban on Peninsular bighorn sheep hunting should continue until scientific population studies are completed and have been evaluated. 

According to the Center for Biological Diversity's website the Peninsular bighorn sheep population is also suffering in California, "the Peninsular bighorn ranges from the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California to the Volcan Tres Virgenes Mountains near Santa Rosalia in Baja California. In 1997, golf courses outnumbered bighorn in the Palm Springs area 91 to 75. Dozens of additional golf courses and developments are even now scheduled to destroy the bighorn's dwindling habitat." The CBD also notes that the number of breeding pairs of Peninsular bighorn fell from 1,200 in 1971 to 280 in 1997. 

Landeros says that BC forests are also threatened, especially the Sierra de Juárez and San Pedro Mártir forests. Threats in both areas come from logging disguised as forest-health improvement campaigns. While Mexico's environmental protection agency Profepa has stopped some of these cuts, Landeros says a new one is to begin in a few days in the San Pedro Mártir forest. 

    Liquid natural gas terminals and power plants

In all of the state's major cities--Tijuana, Mexicali, Ensenada and Rosarito--the construction of new power plants and the discussion of building an off-shore terminal to import foreign natural gas, has drawn the attention and worry of many citizens, scientists, professors and environmental groups. 

Carla García Zendejas is a member of an organization, Grupo de Trabajo de Termoeléctricas Fronterizas de Tijuana, that is examining the environmental impacts of the energy projects. She said that at first people had a lot of questions about the projects. However, more is known about the developments now and García insists that the state government should closely monitor recent developments. 

"The power plants will make air quality problems in Mexicali more severe . . . while on the coast the regasification plants will affect marine ecosystems which are the pride of the state," García stated. 

Source: La Crónica, June 4, 2003. Article by Gerardo Franco Ortiz.