STOP THE ACTIVITIES OF PEMEX IN THE NATURE PROTECTED AREA OF THE LAGOON OF TERMINOS. NO REPETITION IN CAMPECHE OF THE DISASTER CAUSED IN TABASCO: GREENPEACE
Campeche, 7 April 1997
Greenpeace condemned the authorization granted by the National Institute for Ecology to PEMEX, to continue oil exploration and production activities in the Peninsula of Atasta and on the bank of the Palizada river. This authorisation was given dispite PEMEX offering no solutions to the environmental damage caused by their oil activities in the protected areas of the Lagoons of Terminos and Pom.
In an additional stopping point of its OIL TRAIL tour, members of Greenpeace and the crew of the RAINBOW WARRIOR met with fishermen of the local communities and the Non Governmental Organization Marea Azul (Blue Tide), to discus the environmental problems of the region.
"We have seen the dramatic environmental impacts of the oil industry in the state of Tabasco: modifications in the hydrological conditions, pollution, extreme poverty of the impacted communities, infact all the consequences of non regulated activities of a company with no control. If oil activities on the bank of the Palizada River are not stopped, Campeche will have the same destiny as Tabasco" explained Alejandro Calvillo, Greenpeace spokesperson.
Calvillo concluded that "The Nature Protected Area of the Lagoon of Terminos has also felt the impact of works and installations of PEMEX. The country's largest Gas reprocessing plant is located on the Peninsula of Atasta, it is responsible for the death of the Pom Lagoon, and for the impacts of acid rain. The recently agreed oil zoning in the Peninsula of Atasta and on the bank of the Palizada river could be catastrophic for all the protected areas because this river empties 70% of the incoming fresh water into the lagoon. An accident here or the continuous dumping of pollutants could strongly impact the area".
In the buffer areas of the Biosphere Reserve of the Wetlands of Centla, the authorities have authorized the exploration and production of new wells. At the same time, PEMEX continues to work in the nucleus zones; dredging and repairing wells, causing serious environmental impacts.
Greenpeace believes it is sensless to create by decree nature protected areas -the generic term for both nature protected areas and biosphere reserves- when activities, in this case oil activities, are allowed in the nucleus and the buffer zones. The authorization of new activities with their huge environmental impacts, in buffer areas, is even more contradictary. It undermines the government decrees designating these areas as Nature Protected.
Protection of these areas requires international recognition of their special status, and the adoption of a clear policy to remove the oil activities. This should be complemented with the control and regulation of agricultural, cattle ranching activities, and also with waste water treatment.
The RAINBOW WARRIOR, will depart from Campeche for Guatemala today.
