If Mexico City was built on a lake, the Yucatan Peninsula is located on rivers. Groundwater, which has served the population for years, now represents a risk due to wastewater pollution. According to specialists, the pig industry or the lack of sanitation and drainage systems is compounded by the lack of clarity in the competencies between federal and state governments.
“Less than 5% of the water in Yucatán has sanitation. In almost the entire peninsula (Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche) there is no drainage, because since they are groundwater they are under federal competence, so the state level does not consider whether it is treated properly. That's the big problem, the legal vacuum that exists to deal with its management,” said Salvador Castell González, director of Going for the Earth.
Meanwhile, fishing shelters, cenotes, Protected Natural Areas (ANP) and inhabitants, mainly from Mayan communities, face the consequences of pollution.
In an interview with Causa Natura, Castell González clarified that the reference to the lack of joint work between state and federal authorities does not diminish the importance of serving pig farms, whose effects have been investigated and disseminated for several years by local organizations and media.
In May 2020, Greenpeace published the report “The meat that consumes the planet”, where it presented results of water sampling in which nitrates (NO3) were found that contaminate groundwater and cause the accumulation of heavy metals. In addition to ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfides and gases that harm health.
In addition, of the 257 pig farms in the Yucatan Peninsula, 122 (about 47%) are established in priority areas for biodiversity conservation. At least 43 are located in four ANPs, the study reveals.
This year, the Foundation for Due Process and the Indignation collective also documented the problem caused by the pig industry in the study “Contamination of the Mayan Aquifer”.
One of the best-known cases is the company Kekén, part of the industrial conglomerate Grupo KUO, which in May of this year received a definitive suspension from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN). This is after a demand from the Mayan people of Homún.
“A state (water) law is required to share responsibilities with the federal government, so that the municipality and the state can take control powers. The same thing happens with a large part of pig farms, because those who must do the evaluation and monitoring are federal authorities,” proposed the director of Going for the Earth.
Location of pig farms in the Yucatan Peninsula. Source: Greenpeace Mexico.
Watch to protect
For the Yucatan Peninsula, the answer to the lack of drainage systems and treatment plants is the use of septic tanks. A water treatment technology that works like an impermeable chamber, through which black and gray water passes to separate solid waste, but not smaller pollutants.
The use of septic tanks in domestic space extends to the hotel sector in Akumal, Tulum municipality, Quintana Roo. Place where a fishing refuge area is located for the benefit of turtles, corals and seagrasses.
“But we are the ones who are receiving this wastewater from hotels [...] Basically it is injected into underground systems and ends up in the sea. This affects the shelter,” said David Díaz, representative of the Las Maravillas tourism cooperative in Akumal.
According to Díaz, the filtration of the subsoil that goes to underground rivers allows the pollution to end up in the sea.
“This is not a sandy area that can hold water or another type of subsoil that allows an influx of liquids. Throughout the Yucatan Peninsula we have many cenotes and underground rivers, so everything that enters the subsoil ends there. The quality of the water within our coastlines should be treated because it is killing all the corals,” said the representative of the cooperative.
In January, the National Water Commission (Conagua) shared in a statement that, in coordination with the federal government and the government of the state of Yucatán, 96.7 million pesos were invested in improving infrastructure and drinking water, drainage and sanitation services.
Of the total investment, 60% went to the federal government to serve 20 highly marginalized localities and to rehabilitate 11 drinking water systems.
But the problem doesn't stop there, said Abar Yerves Maldonado, president of the Yucatecan Society for Sanitary and Environmental Engineering. An association that for 40 years has been dealing with the topic of treatment plants in Yucatán and that has now been extended to other states.
“As in other sectors, the problem we have is that there are not enough trained technicians to evaluate how plants and sanitation systems operate and verify that all laws and regulations are being complied with. We have a lot of standards, but there are no laboratories or trained people to do all the tests. There is no political will, in most cases, to be able to do treatment properly,” added Abar Yerves.
During the interview, Abar, like Salvador Castell, they discuss another pollution problem that is less common in the peninsula: the use of agrochemicals for agriculture. An issue that also falls within the competence of the federal government and, so far, has no answer. Mainly in Campeche, where cases of poisoning are reported.
Where solutions start
“Just to give you an idea, the Yucatan Peninsula is a karst zone, we have the highest concentration of underground rivers in the world and, even so, there is no drainage system. Most people have cracks, seeps or there are small treatment plants in some villages, they're supposed to treat it and then inject it into the subsoil,” said David Díaz.
Given the big picture, the solution for specialists starts with water sanitation, including illegal open-air dumps. Followed by monitoring and training for effective compliance.
“In the short term it is to publish laws and obtain sanitation, but in the medium term it is that all municipalities have the regulatory infrastructure ready for sustainable water management. Thus, in the long term, we will be able to migrate to a non-polluting and sustainable agroecological option,” said Salvador Castell of Going for the Earth.
Finally, Abar Yerves insisted that effective coordination between federal, state and municipal governments, as well as public awareness so that it is understood that water will not work forever, will allow for a healthy environment.
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