Closure of a toxic waste plant in Mexico after Guardian investigation revealed pollution in nearby homes
Authorities have ordered the closure of two furnaces at a Mexican recycling plant that handles hazardous waste exported from the US, after an investigation by the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab found heavy metal contamination in nearby homes and schools.
A team from the environmental agency of the Mexican state of Nuevo León visited the factory Thursday in a densely populated part of the Monterrey metropolitan area.
These actions follow a story published Tuesday that traced how U.S. steel companies transport contaminated dust left over from scrap recycling to the Zinc Nacional plant, where it is processed in furnaces.
The reporting team worked 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 factory.
Samples showed high levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic – including one elementary school that had 1,760 times the U.S. action level for lead dust in its windowsills.
Zinc Nacional’s own emissions reports to the federal government show that the company emits the same heavy metals into the air.
During the visit on Thursday, officials found evidence of “deficiencies in the emissions control systems” and dust from the plant in the soil, the agency said in a news release. “Therefore, as a precautionary measure, the suspension of the ovens was ordered… This measure will remain in force until the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (Profepa) assumes jurisdiction over the matter.”
Environmental supervisors from Profepa had already arrived at the factory on Friday. A press secretary for the agency said the federal government has ultimate authority over facilities like these that handle hazardous waste.
Zinc Nacional did not respond to questions from the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab, a nonprofit reporting group, about the closure and other reactions in Monterrey to the survey results. In a press release shared with reporters, the company said: “Oversight by state and federal authorities, along with several independent audits conducted by customers, suppliers and international certifiers, demonstrates Zinc Nacional’s compliance with applicable regulations and implementation of international standards under which it operates.”
It described the closure of the furnace as a “precautionary measure” and said: “In the event that areas for improvement are identified in our operations, we will make the necessary adjustments to improve occupational safety conditions for workers, associates and neighboring communities.
The Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab research has been prominently featured in the local and national press, generating front-page stories in a major regional newspaper, El Norte, over the past four days.
The director of regional kindergartens – including one where Soto Jiménez found high levels of arsenic – called for a government health investigation.
Residents of the municipality of San Nicolás de los Garza, the municipality in the Monterrey area where the factory is located, are organizing a signature campaign to complain about the pollution.
“The goal is simply to stop pollution, because the lungs and health of the residents of San Nicolás and those in the surrounding areas are not for sale,” said Roberto Chavarría, a neighbor who lives near the factory and helps organize neighbors. He said a peaceful protest was planned for Friday, January 24.
“We are not the dumping ground of the United States or anyone else.”
Susana de la Torre Zavala, a mother of two children who attend a school next to the Zinc Nacional factory, said the company has invited parents to visit the factory on Thursday for a tour and meeting. But she said the company provided little concrete information.
“Nobody showed us any data; they only limited themselves to telling us: ‘It’s not true, everything is fine,’” Torre Zavala said. “We need certainty and transparency – we need additional studies.”