Frontera NorteSur March 2001

Deforestation in the state is most critical in the areas of Ocampo, Temósachi, Bocoyna, El Vergel, San Juanito and Tomóchi, according to the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca (Semarnap, Department of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries) and the Dirección de Desarrollo Forestal del Estado.

Quezada said that during this year a satellite inventory of forests and deforestation will be carried out to better understand which parts of the state are being affected by deforestation.

The El Diario article states that the primary causes of deforestation in Chihuahua are forest fires, over-grazing, agricultural and illegal cutting. The state currently has 25.5 million hectares of forest and of this land 2.5 million hectares are exploited for wood products.

To control the use of the state's forests only 710 cutting permits were given out last year although the amount of wood taken increased 40% over the previous year's figure.

The El Diario article also said that the state has various protection and conservation programs in place to assure sustainable use of forests. These programs include the restoration of ecosystems, wildlife programs in protected areas and forest protection programs.

Nicolás Juárez, Semarnap spokesperson, said that although the national level of deforestation is 0.65%, deforestation is not a worry in Chihuahua.

Source: El Diario, February 10, 2001. Article by Juan Gómez Franco.

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Valle de Juárez Soil OK by US Environmental Standards

A study done by NMSU faculty member Nicasio Lozano and Mexican colleagues finds that the levels of heavy metals in irrigated Valle de Juárez soil are safe when judged by US environmental standards.

The findings are significant from a human health and environmental standpoint and should also help allay Ciudad Juárez fears that nearby Valle de Juárez agricultural fields contain unsafe levels of heavy metals brought to the area by untreated waste water used for irrigation. Frequent Cd. Juárez newspaper articles allege that the area's irrigation water and soil is too high in heavy metals.

The study of irrigated and non-irrigated land along the Valle de Juárez found that levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cobalt, chromium and arsenic are much below EPA specified concentrations. Whereas the EPA tolerates lead levels of 400 parts per million (ppm) on children's playgrounds, the irrigated Valle de Juárez fields had levels of 40 ppm. Lozano's study also found that heavy metal levels decreased as the distance from Cd. Juárez increased.

However, Lozano did note that heavy metal levels are higher in irrigated soil than in non-irrigated soil. This led him to conclude that the heavy-metal levels of irrigation water do impact soil quality.

Lozano also stated that heavy-metal levels in Valle de Juárez irrigation water are at about levels that would be considered safe for drinking water by US standards.

In the future Lozano would like to study soil samples from junk yards near Cd. Juárez to check heavy-metal concentrations in those possibly contaminated areas.

Lozano spoke at NMSU's Center for Latin American Studies on February 7. FNS is a product of NMSU's Center for Latin American Studies.

Radioactive Density Sensor Stolen in Chihuahua City

A few months after a radioactive dump site was found near Chihuahua City, the city is again worried about possible radioactive contamination after a density sensor containing Americium (atomic number 95) was stolen from the back of a truck. The nearly 70 lb. sensor was used by a consulting and diagnostic company to gauge the quality of pavement and cement used in construction. The sensor was stolen this past Friday, January 26, 2001.

State Police (PJE) and the consulting company, Laboratorios y Consultoría S.A. de C.V., have been searching for the missing piece of equipment which if opened could jeopardize human health. The consulting company is offering a 10,000 peso (approximately US$1,000) reward for the return of the device and experts from a Mexican national security commission (Comisión de Salvaguarda y Seguridad Nacional) are arriving to Chihuahua City today to help in the search for the stolen material.

Chihuahua City was also in the news for problems with nuclear material in late November, 2000 when El Diario reported that a former uranium mine 18 miles from Chihuahua City, in Aldama, was being used as a disposal site for waste from a Mexican nuclear research center. State officials said they knew nothing about the site and all of the waste contained there along with incoming shipments was sent back to the Mexico City research institute. Further coverage of this story can be found in the FNS archives at www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/nov00/today.html

Source: El Diario, January 31, 2001. Article by Daniel García.

Gray Whale Found on Beach Near Tijuana

Tijuana's Frontera newspaper reports that an eighteen-foot long, male, juvenile gray whale was found dead on a beach only a few meters from the US.

Area residents alerted the Mexican environmental agency Semarnap (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca) to the presence of the whale and the agency sent an investigator to the scene.

Yanina Guerrero Martínez, the Semarnap investigator, said that the whale showed no physical damage caused by humans or boats. Guerrero said that the whale died a natural death which was not caused by pollution either.

Rodolfo Anguiano Gaspar, president of the environmental group Gaviotas, said that Semarnap should investigate whale deaths in the region as a similar case appeared last year.

Anguiano added that high levels of pollution in the area could have contributed to the death of the whale and that it is unlikely that it died a natural death.

Because of its size the whale will be buried in a three or five-meter deep grave near its current location on the beach.

Source: Frontera (Tijuana), February 8, 2001.

San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora Wants a Tire Recycling Facility

Julio Villarreal Urquídez, head of the Federación Regional de Llanteros (Regional Tire Federation, FRL), says that local, used-tire vendors generate 52,000 used tires per year and that a tire recycling and grinding plant should be located in San Luis Río Colorado to avoid health and environmental costs associated with used tires.

According to Villarreal, used tires must currently be taken to Méxicali where they go to the Hansen company to be converted into supports for railroad tracks. Although Méxicali and San Luis Río Colorado are only less than 30 miles (50 kilometers) apart Villarreal states that it costs tire vendors 500,000 pesos (approximately US$50,000) per year to transport the tires.

Villarreal asserts that if the tires could be ground up in San Luis Río Colorado before they are moved to Méxicali the cost of recycling would be much lower for the tire vendors. He believes that this would encourage more tire recycling and less tire dumping. Currently many tires are thrown away at illegal dump sites near the city. These piles of tires can then become fire and health hazards.

Río Nuevo Clean Up

Today's Méxicali newspaper La Crónica reports on efforts in crossborder Calexico, CA to clean up the Río Nuevo river.

The newspaper says that local officials that comprise the Río Nuevo Committee have asked both Presidents Fox and Bush to find a solution to the river's pollution. The committee's members recently sent both leaders a letter that explains the river's situation.

Luis Estrada, a member of the committee, stated that "Three decades and three Mexican presidents have ignored this problem that has caused the loss of millions of dollars and affects trade and agriculture." Estrada added that the river's problems stem from high levels of contamination that include dangerous chemicals that threaten the community.

Hildy Carrillo, executive director of the Calexico Business Bureau, criticized the fact that the river has been ignored, "We don't want anymore studies. The river's water should be put into pipes."

Source: La Crónica, February 15, 2001. Article by Edgar Favián Chávez.

Large BC-Area Maritime Tourism Plan Could Threaten Region's Biodiversity

Environmental groups throughout Mexico warn that a plan to bring more maritime-related tourism to the Baja Peninsula could have an irreversible effect on marine and land ecosystems. Both the Baja Peninsula's Pacific coast and the Gulf of California (known as the Sea of Cortés in Mexico) are involved in the tourism project.

The "Grupo de los Cien," one of Mexico's most influential environmental groups, recommended that environmental impact studies be carried out and that a balance be drawn in the region between the conservation of natural resources and economic development.

Group president Homero Aridjis, a noted Mexican poet, stated that although the program is intended to increase maritime tourism it will take place in a region that is one of the most biodiverse in the world. The Baja Peninsula's Pacific coast is where gray whales reproduce and the Gulf of California, "is perhaps the richest marine zone on the continent," Aridjis said.

However, Aridjis warned that environmental organizations should not reject the plan before the results of environmental impact studies are known.

On Wednesday, February 21, a plan to integrate 22 ports and restore a cross-peninsula highway was presented to President Fox and the governors of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora and Sinaloa. The project would bring in over US$1 billion in hotel and maritime investments over a ten-year period.

According to the Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (National Fund for Tourism Development) the program would bring 70,000 boat trips per year to the region.