The Mexican government is likely to authorize the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) corn in Mexico. And until now Mexican citizens, with the help of organisations like Greenpeace, have managed to prevent agribusiness giants like Monsanto, DuPont and Dow AgroSciences from gaining approval in Mexico for genetically engineered corn.
Graciela invited me to her home in El Salto, a city on one of Mexico’s most polluted rivers, the Rio Santiago. She wanted to share the story of her community’s struggle for environmental justice.
“Every family here has at least one person with a serious illness or a loved one who passed away before their time,” Graciela told me. “The people are suffering. Their health and livelihoods are suffering. And industry is earning billions of pesos. It’s just not right.” I saw anger and sorrow wash over her eyes as she spoke about their plight. Continue reading →
In Greenpeace International’s latest report, “Toxic Threads: Under Wraps”, we show the results of water samples that were taken at discharge pipes used by two manufacturing facilities supplying Levi’s: Lavamex and Kaltex. Both facilities were found to be discharging a cocktail of hazardous chemicals. One of the facilities was also found to be discharging nonylphenol, a chemical used in textile manufacturing that has already been banned in many countries. This chemical is very persistent and remains toxic even as it works its way through the food chain. It is able to act as a hormone disrupter, accumulate in the tissue of fish and has recently been detected in human tissue. Continue reading →
I have visited more than 20 times the pipe Huntsman Corporation – one of the largest suppliers of chemical substances in the world for the textile sector – uses to discharge wastewater into the Santiago River in Jalisco, Mexico.
It has never had the same colour. Usually red, sometimes blue and once yellow, it looks like this facility is trying to dye the water as if it was playing with it.
A recent study by Greenpeace Mexico has shown that even the government admits that people living close to this water are risking their health due to water polluted with hazardous chemicals. But the Santiago River is not a private plaything for Huntsman – it is one of Mexico’s most important rivers. Continue reading →
Blogpost by Tommy Crawford, Greenpeace International
Pierre Terras is a Toxic Campaigner in Greenpeace Mexico, and was part of the team that travelled to El Salto de Juanacatlán waterfalls for World Water Day to raise awareness of the toxic pollution that is destroying the Río Santiago. He wanted to share this story with you in order to shine a spotlight on the impacts this pollution is having on the environment and on the lives of local communities, and to show you why the work on the Detox Campaign is so important for people around the world.
World Water Day At The Salto Waterfall
When I first came to see El Salto de Juanacatlán waterfalls on the Río Santiago, the only things I knew were that there was a polluted river and community-based movements asking for a toxic-free environment.