Authorities ordered the shutdown of two furnaces at a Mexican recycling plant that processes hazardous waste exported from the US, after an investigation by the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab that revealed heavy metals contamination in nearby homes and schools.
A team from the environmental agency of the Mexican state of Nuevo León visited the plant in a heavily populated part of the Monterrey metropolitan area on Thursday.
These actions follow a story published on Tuesday that traced how US steel companies ship contaminated dust left over from recycling scrap metal to the Zinc Nacional plant.
The reporting team collaborated with Martín Soto Jiménez, a toxicology researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Unam), who took soil and dust samples in homes and schools surrounding the plant.
Samples showed high levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic – including one elementary school that had 1,760 times the US action level for lead dust in its window sills.
Zinc Nacional’s own emission reports to the federal government show the company emits these same heavy metals into the air.
During the visit on Thursday, officials found evidence of “deficiencies in the emission control systems” and dust from the plant in soil, said the agency in a press release. “Therefore, as a precautionary measure, the suspension of the furnaces was ordered … This measure will remain in effect until the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (Profepa) assumes jurisdiction over the case.”
Environmental regulators from Profepa had already arrived at the plant on Friday. A press officer for the agency said the federal government has the ultimate authority over facilities such as this that handle hazardous waste.
Zinc Nacional did not respond to questions from the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab, a non-profit reporting group, about the shutdown and other reactions in Monterrey to the study findings. In a press release shared with reporters, the company said: “Oversight by state and federal authorities, along with various independent audits conducted by customers, suppliers, and international certifiers, demonstrate Zinc Nacional’s compliance with applicable regulations and the implementation of the international standards under which it operates.”
It described the furnace shutdown as “precautionary”, and said: “In the event that areas for improvement are identified in our operations, we shall make the necessary adjustments to strengthen the work safety conditions for employees, collaborators and neighboring communities.
The Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab investigation has been featured prominently in the local and national press, generating front page stories in a major regional newspaper, El Norte, for the last four days.
The director of regional nursery schools – which included one school where Soto Jiménez found high levels of arsenic – called for a federal health investigation.
Residents from the municipality of San Nicolás de los Garza, the Monterrey-area municipality where the plant is located, are organizing a signature-gathering drive for a complaint about the pollution.
“The objective is simply to stop the pollution because the lungs and health of San Nicolás residents and those in surrounding areas are not for sale,” said Roberto Chavarría, a neighbor who lives near the plant and is helping organize neighbors. He said a peaceful protest was planned for Friday, 24 January.
“We are not the garbage dump of the United States or anyone else.”
Susana de la Torre Zavala, the mother of two children who attend a school next to the Zinc Nacional plant, said the company invited parents to visit the facility for a tour and meeting on Thursday. But she said the company provided little concrete information.
“No one showed us any data; they just limited themselves to telling us, ‘It’s not true, everything is fine,’” said Torre Zavala. “We need certainty, transparency – we need extra studies.”
Article by:Source – Erin McCormick, Guardian US, and Verónica García de León, Quinto Elemento Lab
