From Bad to Worse . . .

The previous article posted on this blog dealt with the subject of the asphalt plant located in the Colony Las Peras of San Cristóbal de Las Casas. In this article, the asphalt plant was indicated as actively violating various human rights, such as the right to health, the right to life, and the right to education.

This week, the Mexican government mocked the citizens of San Cristóbal, permitting the installation of a new asphalt plant less than a kilometer from the asphalt plant of the Colony Las Peras. This new plant was discovered when various residents sighted a large cloud of smoke settling over the region of Las Peras early Monday morning. When both of the plants operate at the same time, these witnesses report that smoke engulfs the entire area. Appalled at the ramifications that the operation of this new plant carries for the people of San Cristóbal, above all the children, various concerned citizens sat down this week to write and publish a communiqué manifesting their outrage and indignation. A copy of this communiqué, first in Spanish and then in English, is provided below, as well as photos and videos taken yesterday, Wednesday, November 16, 2011, at the site of the new asphalt plant.

Thank you for reading the following communiqué – please feel free to share widely.

Spanish Version

A LA OPINIÓN PÚBLICA.

IMPUNIDAD=MUERTE LENTA

Hoy San Cristóbal se llena de luto por la apertura de una nueva planta de asfalto, ubicada a en la carretera San Cristóbal a Tenejapa, a 500 metros del cruce con el periférico Oriente, a menos de un kilometro de la planta de asfalto del Grupo ALZ ubicada en la Colonia Las Peras.

En San Cristóbal de Las Casas, los tres niveles de gobierno (municipal, estatal y federal) han permitido desde el 2008 la proliferación de estas plantas asesinas, en febrero de 2011 se fueron cuatro de las cinco que teníamos frente a escuelas y hoy con la complicidad de funcionarios, abren otra.

Hasta cuando permitiremos que los tres niveles de gobiernos les den más protección a los intereses de empresarios que lo único que los motiva es el dinero que están “ganando” a costa de nuestra salud, a costa de nuestros niños, a costa de nuestra vida.

Y nos preguntamos, acaso la Lic. Cecilia Flores Pérez, autorizó el cambio de uso de suelo, lo que permite la instalación de la planta de asfalto. Que hace el delegado de la SEMARNAT, ex delegado de la PROFEPA, Biol. Ricardo Frías, si autorizó el Manifiesto de Impacto Ambiental de esta nueva planta? Y si la Lic. Lourdes López Moreno, Secretaria de Medio Ambiente e Historia Natural, que tiene que decir ante las violaciones a la Ley de Medio Ambiente de Chiapas con esta nueva planta?

Invitamos a la ciudadanía a manifestar nuestra INDIGNACIÓN. Es la hora, no podemos permitir que nos asesinen lentamente, la combustión de derivados del petróleo crudo (AC 20) dispersan químicos altamente peligrosos para cualquier ser viviente, contamina nuestro aire, nuestra agua, nuestra tierra, nuestro ser y el de nuestros niños, hasta cuando lo vamos a permitir???

San Cristóbal de Las Casas a 15 de noviembre de 2011

"ALIANZA POR EL DERECHO A UN AMBIENTE SANO"

English Version

TO THE PUBLIC OPINION.

IMPUNITY = SLOW DEATH

Today, San Cristóbal is filled with mourning due to the opening of a new asphalt plant, located in the highway from San Cristóbal to Tenejapa, 500 meters from the intersection with the Eastern Periphery highway, and less than a kilometer from the asphalt plant owned by Grupo ALZ that is located in the Colony Las Peras.

Since 2008, the three levels of government (municipal, state, and federal) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas have permitted the proliferation of these killer plants. In February of 2011, four of the five plants that were located in front of schools left the city. Yet today, with the complicity of government authorities, they have opened another plant.

Up to what point will we permit these three levels of government to give more protection to the interests of businessmen, whose only motive is the money they are “winning” at the cost of our health, at the cost of our children, at the cost of our life?

We ask ourselves, could it be that Mayor Cecilia Flores Perez authorized the permit for the land use change, which thereby allowed the installation of the asphalt plant? Could it be that the delegate of SEMARNAT (equivalent of the Cabinet-level department of the EPA), the ex-delegate of the PROFEPA (federal EPA), Biologist Ricardo Frias indeed authorized the environmental impact statement of this new asphalt plant? And Lourdes Lopez Moreno, Secretary of the Environment and Natural History (state EPA), what does she have to say about the violations of the environmental laws happening here in Chiapas due to this new asphalt plant?

We invite the citizenry to manifest our INDIGNATION. Now is the hour, we cannot allow them to kill us slowly! The burning of crude petroleum derivatives (AC-20) disperses highly toxic chemicals that pose a danger to the health of every life form. It contaminates our air, our water, our land, our very being and that of our children. Up to what point will we allow this to continue???

San Cristóbal de Las Casas

November 15, 2011

"ALIANZA POR EL DERECHO A UN AMBIENTE SANO"

(“Alliance for the Right to a Healthy Environment”)

Note: In the truck on the left, fumes can be Note: These workers are working

seen rising out of the bed of the truck without any protective equipment.

immediately after the plant deposits a new

batch of asphalt into its hold. These fumes

are known as "fugitive emissions," and

contribute to the contamination spread

through the production of asphalt.