Yucatan corruption: Pig farm could contaminate cenotes in Yucatán, Greenpeace tells the Court

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Social organizations sent an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in support of the Mayan children who oppose the operation of a farm of 49 thousand pigs in the Yucatan Peninsula, in an area near the Mayan town of Homún, where there is the Anillo de Cenotes geohydrological state reserve. They point out that this farm will cause water pollution, air pollutants and spread pathogens.

In an amicus curiae, a third-party legal testimony, presented Wednesday, the plaintiffs detail substantial scientific evidence on the serious and irreversible damage to human health and the environment associated with the industrial operations of pig farms, Greenpeace and the Center explained. for Biological Diversity, among other groups that sent the letter.

Factory animal farm operations are notorious pollutants, the brief says. The operation of this farm is expected to generate about 272 million kilograms of urine and feces each year, more than the entire human population of Tijuana generates. That waste will be stored in uncovered wells and then disposed of in nearby fields, a practice employed by many factory animal farms in the United States, they said in a statement.

“Pollution from industrial pig farms has already disproportionately degraded huge tracts of land and water of indigenous communities in the Yucatán Peninsula,” said Alejandro Olivera, Mexico representative for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Add another mega farm. it will overwhelm this fragile ecosystem with noxious animal fumes and excrement ”.

“Numerous scientific studies provide evidence that industrial pig operations release pollutants into neighboring communities, where they affect the health and quality of life of neighbors. Such operations have been associated with increases in respiratory and asthma symptoms, blood pressure, stress and anxiety among residents who live nearby, ”said Jill Johnston, assistant professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of the South. California, who joined the “friend of the Court” brief.

“Factory farming puts our health and the health of the environment at risk. This type of intensive production is close to population centers and cities, resulting in increased exposure to disease. That is why we must seek a transition from the agro-industrial model, towards an agroecological, sustainable and healthy production that respects nature’s cycles and guarantees respect for people’s rights, ”said Viridiana Lázaro, Greenpeace Mexico Food and Agriculture campaigner.

The Yucatán Peninsula is home to four sites protected by the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty that protects spectacular wetlands: Laguna de Terminos, Ring of Cenotes Geohydrological State Reserve, Lagunas de Yalahau State Park, and Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve.

Source: jornada.com.mx

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