| Montreal, 11/12/2003 – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) released today a factual record on allegations Mexico is allowing wastewater to be discharged into the Magdalena River from the municipalities of Imuris, Santa Ana and Magdalena de Kino in Sonora, Mexico, without proper treatment. The CEC Council authorized the public release of the factual record on 5 December 2003.
The Río Magdalena submission (SEM-97-002) was filed with the CEC on 7 April 1997, by Comité Pro Limpieza del Río Magdalena. The CEC Council instructed the Secretariat to prepare a factual record on 7 March 2002.
The factual record presents facts on Mexico's water pollution prevention and control actions with respect to wastewater discharges from the municipalities of Imuris, Magdalena de Kino and Santa Ana into the Magdalena River. The factual record reaches no conclusion on whether Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law.
Environmental authorities have granted Magdalena de Kino until 1 January 2005 to comply with Mexican Official Standard NOM-001-ECOL-1996 (NOM-001), which sets maximum contaminant limits for wastewater discharges into national waters. Imuris and Santa Ana must comply by 1 January 2010. Under NOM-001, the maximum effluent contaminant limit for fecal coliforms is 2,000 MPN/100 ml.
The factual record reveals that in 1997, only the municipality of Magdalena de Kino was treating its wastewater before discharging it into the Magdalena River. Monitoring for fecal coliforms carried out in 1997 show results of 15,500,000 MPN/100 ml for Imuris, 12,000,000 MPN/100 ml for Magdalena and 12,660,000 MPN/100 ml for Santa Ana.
By 2002, Imuris, Magdalena, and Santa Ana all had wastewater treatment facilities built or enlarged by the National Water Commission (Comision Nacional de Agua-CNA). According to the CNA - Mexico's federal water authority - the treatment capacity of the municipalities' wastewater facilities is 92.9% for biochemical oxygen demand and 99.9% for fecal coliforms. However, the operating agencies with responsibility for water do not have a budget to operate and maintain these systems. The three municipalities do not monitor and report their wastewater discharges as prescribed by NOM-001; nor do they pay the applicable fees under the Federal Duties Law (Ley Federal de Derechos -LFD).
The CNA conducts bimonthly monitoring of Magdalena River water quality at the "Terrenate" Station, located downstream of the Imuris discharge point and upstream from the Magdalena and Santa Ana discharge points. According to the CNA, Magdalena River water is suitable for public water supply, recreation, fish and aquatic wildlife, industrial and agricultural uses, notwithstanding the fact that in 1999 and 2000, the fecal coliform parameter of the Ecological Water Quality Criteria, which contains water quality standards for national watercourses, was exceeded in several samples from the river (3,500 MPN/100 ml versus a maximum contaminant limit under the Criteria of 1,000 MPN/100 ml). Based on three years of monitoring at the Terranate station, the CNA considers the water of the Magdalena River to be "of acceptable quality for use in agricultural irrigation, although not of vegetables intended for raw consumption due to the presence of fecal coliforms" and of acceptable quality for use as a drinking water supply "if purified to eliminate coliform microorganisms and oils and lubricants."
The factual record reveals that since the entry into force of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) on 1 January 1994, the CNA has not taken any enforcement action regarding the water pollution prevention and control provisions referred to in the factual record with respect to the municipalities of Imuris, Magdalena de Kino and Santa Ana.
Article 14 of the NAAEC provides that the CEC Secretariat may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to the NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce an environmental law. Where the Secretariat determines that the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are met, it may then proceed with a process that can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter.
The CEC was established under the NAAEC to address environmental issues in North America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the top environment officials of Canada, Mexico and the United States. |
