Pemex rejects claim toxic dump clean-up a failure 
	Fri, 4 Feb 2000 08:16:50 -0500


Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

   MEXICO: January 31, 2000

   MEXICO CITY - Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex)
   yesterday rejected charges from an environmental group that a cleanup
   of toxic waste dumped by the oil giant had been shoddy and
   unsuccessful. 

   Environmental group Greenpeace said a one-year effort to restore soil
   in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz - where contamination devastated
   crops, killed livestock and triggered an outbreak of skin problems -
   had been a failure and urged Pemex to mount a fresh cleanup.

   Greenpeace said Grupo Urbis, the private contractors hired to clean an
   area near the city of Ixhuatlan de Sureste, failed to achieve the aims
   it had set itself.

   Pemex, often at loggerheads with ecologists for its environmental
   record, rejected Greenpeace's accusations.

   It said the clean-up began in March last year and was concluded on
   June 22. A private company was hired to examine the work of Grupo
   Urbis and, supervised by inspectors from the government's Profepa
   ecological watchdog, produced a final evaluation on July 24.

   "The results obtained complied with Profepa's internal criteria for
   the restoration of contaminated sites. For that reason, we must
   suppose that Greenpeace's samples ... were taken before the start of
   restoration and clean-up works," Pemex said.

   Pressure groups have long criticised Pemex for damaging the
   environment, especially along the Gulf Coast. They say leaking oil
   pipes have polluted streams and rivers.

   Earlier this month, Profepa published a survey of industry's
   environmental performance and said Pemex was the country's dirtiest
   firm in terms of air pollution.

   Pemex says it has improved its environmental awareness in recent years
   and has spent millions of dollars cleaning up its mess and bringing
   its waste management methods up to date.

   The Veracruz case has been a thorn in the side of Pemex, yielding a
   landmark court decision against the oil monopoly last year.

   In August, arrest warrants were issued against two Pemex biologists
   for the dumping of toxic waste, the first ever arrest warrants carried
   out against the company.

   Greenpeace Mexico Director Alejandro Calvillo, citing a study from the
   Mexican College of Civil Engineers, said on Thursday hydrocarbon
   levels remained thousands of times above the target pledged by Grupo
   Urbis and the standards of Profepa.

   He said the study was conducted in November 1999, after the date Pemex
   said the cleanup was concluded.

   Samples showed the presence of hydrocarbons in the soil ranged from
   10,000 to more than 1 million parts per million in the affected area.
   Grupo Urbis promised to rein in the levels to less than 5,000 parts
   per million, Greenpeace said.

   Greenpeace said Grupo Urbis' treatment consisted of mixing good earth
   with the contaminated soil. The company was paid 3.8 million pesos
   ($400,000).

   REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

 
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