| Montreal, 14/01/2003 – On 10 January 2003, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) received Mexico's response to a citizen submission involving the "El Boludo" mining project in Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico.
The submission (SEM-02-004), filed by Arcadio, Leoncio, Fernanda and Milagro Pesqueira Senday, alleges that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environment law. It claims that the company, Minera Secotec, S.A. de C.V., has exploited the low-grade placer gold deposit of the "El Boludo" project without complying with several environmental impact authorization conditions.
In response, Mexico states that on 8 October 2002, the Submitters raised the same matters in a public complaint (denuncia popular) filed against Minera Secotec S.A. de C.V. with the Federal Attorney General for Environmental Protection (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente). Mexico is asking the Secretariat to stop processing the submission under Article 14(3)(a) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), since proceedings on the public complaint are still pending. Mexico did not respond to the allegations found in the submission.
The Secretariat will now review Mexico's response in accordance with the NAAEC.
The CEC was established by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information. |
