Mexico's environment authority Profepa has launched an environmental audit program to sanitize the basin of the Lerma river in Mexico state (Edomex), the entity's deputy public attorney for environmental matters, Raúl Tornell, told BNamericas.
"Profepa has a national environmental audit program, aimed at conducting an exhaustive evaluation of all the environmental obligations that entities must comply with," he said.
"This is a voluntary program and we invited the 33 municipalities that make up the Lerma basin in Edomex," Tornell said, adding that Profepa will focus on their obligations regarding wastewater and solid waste.
The official said all the municipalities expressed interest and signed a commitment to participate in the program.
On October 27, the audits started in the 10 municipalities surrounding the river's source.
The audits will be conducted by two private consultancy firms that have been certified and hired by Profepa.
"The initial audits will be sponsored by the Edomex government with 3mn pesos [US$231,579]. Once complete, they will provide the data to establish a diagnosis of the contamination problems affecting the basin," Tornell said.
"It will tell us the status of the problem in each municipality and what actions must be taken to sanitize the river on a municipality-by-municipality basis. This is a task that has never been carried out with such detail and thoroughness," according to the official.
The 965km-long Lerma is Mexico's second longest river and the most important one in socio-economic terms, as it crosses Edomex, the country's most populous state.
The river is notorious for its pollution, as black waters generated by the residential sector are dumped untreated into the river.
However, the water quality has seen significant improvement in recent years as a result of federal environmental programs, as well as general upgrading of sanitation coverage.
No comments:
Post a Comment