by Dana Jones
When rain hits Tijuana, Mexico, more than 1,000 families in Colonia Chilpancingo must contend with toxic streams from an abandoned factory on the mesa above. The contaminated watershed is suspected as the cause of stomach ailments, skin irritations, dizziness and birth defects, which occur in the Mexican village, known as a colonia, at rates much higher than in communities not adjacent to maquiladoras, the Spanish word for the factories that have mushroomed along the Mexico-U.S. border.
The source of the toxic streams in Metales y Derivados, an abandoned maquiladora that recycled lead batteries. That recycling process produced hazardous wastes including lead oxides, sulfites, heavy metals and sulfuric acid. When confronted with legal action demanding cleanup of the wastes in 1993 and 1994, owner Jose Kahn closed the plant without cleanup and fled to the United States. Since then, the factory has sat decaying and polluting the surrounding area.
Metales y Derivados is just one of a number of abandoned, hazardous maquiladoras in the Tijuana area, said Cesar Luna, an attorney who coordinates the Border Environmental Justice Campaign for the Environmental Health Coalition, a San Diego, Calif.-based organization addressing environmental health issues in southern California and northwestern Mexico. In an effort to force cleanup of such facilities, Mr. Luna led the coalition in filing a petition through a process created as part of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA).
Communications associate for the coalition Traci Griggs explained:
"Metales is just one of many cases. Through the petition, we are seeking a process that works to get this site cleaned up and can be used elsewhere."
The petition process is not simple nor quick. The coalition filed the citizen-enforcement petition with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation in October 1998. That commission, which was established as a side agreement to NAFTA, is composed of three people -- one person each from the environmental-regulation agencies of Mexico, the United States and Canada, The commission is charged with reviewing petitions from citizens of any of the three nations who believe the environmental laws of one of the nations are being violated.
Though close to two dozen petitions have been filed, the impact of the commission’s review process is yet to be seen, Mr. Luna said. The commission’s role is limited to reviewing the petitions, determining their validity and releasing reports of violations to the public.
The Environmental Health Coalition believes filing the petition will bring violations like those at Metales y Derivados into the international spotlight, thus prompting the U.S. and Mexican governments to cleanup Metales and other such toxic dumps.
"This is a test for the NAFTA signers to do what they promised to do," Mr. Luna said. "The side agreements are very weak. We’re trying to expose injustices in them."
The three-nation commission responded to the petition by seeking a response from the Mexican government. Guidelines of the commission require such a response in 30 days unless there are exceptional circumstances. Mexico requested and was granted more time to respond.
So while the petition process remains stalled, the rains in Tijuana do not. In mid-summer, Ms. Griggs said:
"It’s rainy season. The wind is kicking up and the water is running and people are being exposed."
Dana E. Jones is editor of Response.