Authorities suspend Grupo México's facility after sulfuric acid spill

On Saturday, Mexico’s environmental prosecutor, Profepa , said it ordered the partial and temporary closure of mining and transport firm Grupo México’s Guaymas facility after it spilled sulfuric acid in the Gulf of California .

Last week, Grupo México said it had immediately controlled the July 9 spill, which it blamed on a valve failure at the Guaymas facility on the coast of the gulf, which is one of Mexico’s most diverse ecosystems .

Grupo México

's facilities located in the Integral Port Administration in Guaymas, Apiguay, where the company spilled sulfuric acid into the Sea of Cortez, violates the Ecological Equilibrium and Environment Protection Law ( LGEEPA ) because the company lacks an environmental impact assessment, Mexico's Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (Semarnat) announced after it examined the company's Guaymas facility.

Profepa

said it ordered the temporary closure of the facility after visiting the site twice, saying the firm lacked the proper environmental permits for its activities.

Today, Mexican mining and transport firm Grupo México said that the Navy Ministry reported it did not find environmental damage from the company’s sulfuric acid spill at its Guaymas facility on the Gulf of California, even though the Profepa ordered the partial and temporary closure of the site following the spill.

Lawmaker Carlos Navarrete Aguirre

has insisted on his demand to withdraw Grupo México 's concession to exploit natural resources , store and distribute toxic materials .

The lawmaker reported that the tubes used transport sulfuric acid are corroded and that there is acid rain in the area.

Carlos Navarrete

said that “Grupo México's workers in Apiguay told me that the valve that spilled sulfuric acid in the Sea of Cortez was open, therefore, the spill was larger and the irresponsibility should be punished with the withdrawal of the concession to Germán Larrea Mota Velasco .”

This is not the first time Grupo México has been involved in an environmental tragedy . Five years ago, Grupo México spilled 40,000 cubic meters of poisonous metals in the Sonora River .

Sulfuric acid spill was bigger than declared

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