Community celebrates end of toxic legacy at Metales y Derivados site
On January 28, 2009, Environmental Health Coalition, community residents and government environmental officials from both sides of the border commemorated the fulfillment of the historic agreement to clean up the notorious Metales y Derivados toxic site in Tijuana.
EHC Organizer Magdalena Cerda celebrates during Wednesday's press conference.
The agreement, signed in June 2004 by members of EHC’s Tijuana affiliate the Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental and the Mexican government, called for cleanup within five years. The 15 million peso (approximately $1.5 million) remediation project, financed by the U.S and Mexican governments, was completed ahead of schedule. During the process, workers removed or encapsulated more than 40,000 tons of toxic waste. Battery parts and heavy metals were illegally burried or dumped in open piles and rusted barrels around the three-acre site.
Metales became infamous for exposing how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) fails to hold polluters responsible for their toxic messes and fails to enforce cleanup responsibilities. Between 1972 and 1994, Metales recycled thousands of car and boat batteries from the U.S., extracting lead for profit and contaminating nearby communities. The U.S.-based owners abandoned the site in 1994.
Click here for a copy of EHC's media release in English or Spanish.
Click here for the new bilingual section of our website devoted to the history of Metales y Derivados.
Click here to view the KGTV CH. 10 news story
For More Information contact:
Amelia Simpson
(619) 474-0220, ext. 116
amelias@environmentalhealth.org
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Check out the new Border Environmental Justice Campaign's section of the website. It's now completely bilingual.
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