| Montreal, 1/03/2001 – The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC) has reopened its file on the Cytrar hazardous waste landfill following receipt of a new Citizen Submission on the matter.
Both the original and the new submissions, filed by the Academia Sonorense de Derechos Humanos, A.C. and Domingo Gutiérrez Mendívil, assert that the government of Mexico is failing to enforce its environmental law effectively concerning the establishment and operation of the Cytrar facility near the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The first submission was dismissed by NACEC because the law to which it made reference was not applicable to the environmental concern it raised. The new submission presents different arguments.
The new submission (SEM-01-001), brought forward in February 2001, asserts that the Cytrar hazardous waste landfill carried on activities in violation of multiple legal provisions, since: a) it operated without an environmental impact authorization; b) it failed to comply with the applicable legal provisions concerning the design and construction of its facilities; and c) it deposited hazardous waste originating from the company Alco Pacífico, Inc. of the United States of America. The submitters allege that these violations concerning the disposal of hazardous wastes have caused damage to human health and to habitat.
The submission also asserts that NACEC is empowered to produce a report on the Cytrar case pursuant to Article 13 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), since the matter relates to the cooperative functions of the Agreement. The submitters suggest that if such a report were produced, it would contribute to achieving the objectives of the triannual program plan known as the North American Agenda for Action.
Under Article 14 of the NAAEC, NACEC may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. Where the NACEC Secretariat determines that NAAEC Article 14 criteria are met, it may then proceed with a process that, with the agreement of the NACEC Council, can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter.
NACEC 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 NACEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the environment ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States. |
