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Organized Environmental Irresponsibility In Mexico

Posted by: Chris Steins
Thanks to: Chris Steins
16 January 2005 - 12:00pm

"The kind of accidents that caused last month's spill are routine events in Mexico's oil patch. Here in Veracruz state, there are on average 100 "environmental emergencies" each year, according to Greenpeace Mexico. Two-thirds involve breaks or explosions in the corroded and outmoded pipeline network owned by Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly.

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...But environmentalists and other public interest groups say Pemex's problems are more complex, embedded in its corporate culture of "organized irresponsibility," as local biologist Lorenzo Bozada put it.

...But any public pressure on Pemex to make improvements is limited because it is shielded from legal challenges by a judicial system that favors the government over citizens..."

Toxic spills by Mexico's oil company, Pemex have turned a coastal area into 'one of the most contaminated regions in the world.'

"The kind of accidents that caused last month's spill are routine events in Mexico's oil patch. Here in Veracruz state, there are on average 100 "environmental emergencies" each year, according to Greenpeace Mexico. Two-thirds involve breaks or explosions in the corroded and outmoded pipeline network owned by Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly.

...But environmentalists and other public interest groups say Pemex's problems are more complex, embedded in its corporate culture of "organized irresponsibility," as local biologist Lorenzo Bozada put it.

...But any public pressure on Pemex to make improvements is limited because it is shielded from legal challenges by a judicial system that favors the government over citizens..."

Source: Los Angeles Times, Oct 26, 2005
Full Story: Black Gold Leaves a Stain on Mexican Coastal Region
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