Citizen Enforcement Submission Petitioners:

Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) - San Diego, CA-based nonprofit organization

Comité Ciudadano Pro Restauración del Cañon del Padre y Servicios Comunitarios (Comité) - Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Party:

Mexico (PROFEPA, SEMARNAP, PGR, INE, Dirección de Ecologia de B.C.)

Purpose of the EHC/Comité Citizen Enforcement Submission:

To request the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to prepare a factual record to determine if Mexico has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law in regards to the cleanup of Metales y Derivados (Metales), an abandoned lead smelter in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Petitioners also request the CEC to prepare an independent report to promote the protection of human health and the environment and to facilitate enforcement cooperation between governments as allowed under article (13).

Exposing the Hidden Reality of Border Environmental Health

Metales y Derivados poses serious risks to human health and the environment due to its past toxic operations and the release of toxic chemicals into the environment, thereby exposing children and adults.

The typical process of "recycling" lead batteries consists of breaking the used battery, separating is components, smelting and refining the lead. This produces several types of hazardous wastes including lead oxides, lead sulfites and lead dioxide in the form of dust, soil, sediments and sludge. Sulfuric acid and acid leachates, heavy metals such as antimony, arsenic, cadmium and copper are also common by-products of battery recycling as well as contaminated battery casings, metal scrap and contaminated building structures and equipment.

The owners and operators abandoned the company in March, 1994, after continuous complaints from the nearby residents and repeated sanctions by the government for violating Mexican law, leaving piles of hazardous was behind. It is estimated that Metales accumulated approximately 6,000 metric tons of lead slag, waste pile of by-products, sulfuric acid, and heavy metals such as antimony, arsenic, cadmium and copper. Since its abandonment, these hazardous wastes have remained on-site completely exposed to the natural environment.

Colonia Chilpancingo, home to approximately 1,000 families, faces the greatest risk of exposure to the runoff that may carry toxic chemicals from Metales because it is located immediately down hill from the toxic waste site.

The United States may also be impacted by the toxic runoff from Metales y Derivados. The toxic waste can potentially be washed away by rainfall, enter the Tijuana River system and travel north into American waters.

Various technologies to remediate lead battery recycling sites exist. Alternatives such as immobilization of the lead waste (solidification or stabilization), separation of the contaminants (soil excavation and off-site disposal) and specific innovative treatment technologies are some of the known viable options to clean or secure lead contamination sites similar to Metales y Derivados.

Petitioners are concerned that health and environmental risks increase each year the site is left exposed to the environment. Because there has not been any effective corrective action to cleanup the site or protect the surrounding communities from further toxic exposure, petitioners are seeking a comprehensive and effective cleanup plan to be implemented immediately to remove the toxic waste.

Citizen Enforcement Submission Summary:

The petition asserts that Mexico has failed to effectively enforce its General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (General Law) by neglecting to remediate the toxic dump site known as Metales y Derivados, a U.S.-owned abandoned lead smelter located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Specifically:

Mexico has failed to enforce Article 170 of the General Law because it has not taken the proper safety measures to prevent the Metales y Derivados site from posing an imminent risk to the ecological balance and to public health.

Mexico has failed to enforce Article 134 of the General Law because it has not taken appropriate actions to control or prevent soil contamination in and near the Metales y Derivados site.

Mexico has failed to enforce its laws by not procuring extradition.

Petitioners argue that the CEC is obligated to investigate the Metales y Derivados because the case fits within the principal objectives of the CEC.

Petitioners will file the Citizen Enforcement Submission on October 21, 1998 with the CEC Secretariat, located in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

CEC Citizen Enforcement Submission Guidelines:

The Secretariat of the CEC may consider a submission from any person or organization residing or established in the territory of a Party to NAFTA that asserts a Party (government) is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law(s). The citizen enforcement petition must: be written in an acceptable language ( English, French, Spanish); clearly identify the submitters; provide sufficient information, including any documentary evidence on which the submission is based to allow the Secretariat to review the submission; be aimed at promoting enforcement rather than harassing industry; and indicate the matter has been communicated in writing to the relevant authorities of the challenged Party and indicate the response, if any.

The citizen enforcement submission does not accept submissions against corporations, businesses or individuals.

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