Mexican president hints at new cleanup plan for toxic river spill
Reuters
Published Oct 05, 2023 09:16
Updated Oct 05, 2023 09:32
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's president announced that he expects to have a new action plan in the next couple weeks to better address a toxic spill that fouled a river nine years ago and was blamed on one of the country's top mining and transportation companies.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters at a regular government press conference that funds allocated by conglomerate Grupo Mexico for cleanup and remediation appeared to be insufficient, adding that meetings over the next few days should yield a new "proposal" that officials will present to the company.
"We're resolving it, looking for options and alternatives," he said.
Later on Wednesday, Grupo Mexico said in a statement that remediation work in the river succeeded and is backed by scientific studies.
Last week, Lopez Obrador's environment ministry called the company's remediation efforts insufficient and stated that the Sonora River, located in northern Mexico, still showed the presence of contaminants from the spill, nearly a decade after what many consider to be one of the country's worst ecological disasters.
Grupo Mexico, the country's top copper producer, dismissed the ministry's assertions as false.
"The alleged findings from tests presented last week have no link to the 2014 event. They omit current sources of pollution such as illegal mining (and) the discharge of untreated sewage," according to the company statement.
The company also pointed to a government resolution from last May that it said showed that the river's water quality had already returned to its pre-spill levels.
Get The App
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.