Southern Corridor: putting the puzzle together

New Mexico Business Journal, July, 1994 by Ed Ivey

"The U.S.-Mexican border has been called a 'virtual cesspool' by the president of the American Medical Association, Dr. Joseph Painter.

"With the explosive growth that's taken place here for the last 25 years, environmental damage has really expanded," says Boren.

Boren's alliance has brought together groups like the Juarez municipal and Chihuahua state health departments, Consejo Ecologico de Juarez, Rito Nacional de Mexico, and Comite Independiente de Chihuahua, each respected bodies that have an effect on lawmakers in their areas.

In one recent case, International Alliance of the Bravo went up against a maquiladora plant in Juarez that Boren alleges was dumping toxics in nearby areas for over 12 years.

"This was a U.S.-owned maquila in Juarez that had been opened by a company from New Jersey," he asserted. "The people of the community (Waterfill, adjacent to Zaragoza in the south Juarez area) asked us for help.

"They were shut down in December by PROFEPA," he says. PROFEPA is an acronymic replacement for SEDUE, Mexico's counterpart to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Boren says as many as half of the 300 plants in Juarez have some ecologically unfit problems. The big job is to educate company owners to do a better job of policing toxic output, he says.

The maquila industry overall doesn't have a reputation for compliance to environmental regulations in Mexico, Boren assets.

"By law, companies are supposed to return hazardous waste back to the U.S., but only about a third makes it," he says.

"We're not out to make a blanket condemnation of the maquila industry, nor are we here to bash Mexican officials, but they're a part of the problem because they are so understaffed and underbudgeted," says Boren.

"I think the maquila industry takes advantage of that, of the fact that the Mexican government still hasn't created its environmental infrastructure to monitor a plant.

"There are only six inspectors for PROFEPA for the Juarez area with 300 maquila plants," he says. "That's nowhere near enough."

Some plants, however, have displayed tremendous responsibility in handling toxics, according to Boren.

"Hewlitt-Packard recently received a prestigious award for environmental compliance, along with some other El Paso area operations, and it shows there are some companies that really care about this," notes Boren.

The environmentalist contends El Paso and southwestern New Mexico have some "real problems that we have to face up to now."

"Our aquifer is going to dry up in about 20 or 30 years, and if we're talking about the population in El Paso-Juarez doubling in 20 years, what are we going to do?" asks Boren.

"The planning is so sketchy. There are huge water issues, pollution issues; we've got some of the worst public health conditions in the country here; some of the worst water problems.

"The Southwest is one of the areas nationwide that has a really limited carrying capacity," he says. "If we don't start solving the problems now, they'll become overwhelming."

Boren hopes that placing the Border Environmental Cooperation office in Juarez and the creation of NadBank in San Antonio will direct dollars to monitoring and enforcing environmental regulations along the El Paso-Juarez border."