- Pipelines currently under construction in southern Mexico have become controversial because of threats of chemical spills, their contribution to climate change and the alleged lack of consultation with local communities.
- The projects include the Southeast Gateway Gas pipeline and Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, both constructed by the Federal Electricity Commission and the Canadian company TC Energy.
- A 2018 injunction against the Southeast Gateway Gas Pipeline was struck down after a court ruled the project was a matter of national security. Now, local communities and conservation groups are working to develop alliances with international groups to come up with a different legal strategy.
Mexico has pledged to more than double its clean energy output by 2030, investing in solar and wind power while transitioning away from fossil fuels. Yet the country continues to lag behind on its renewable energy targets, producing just 12% of its power from clean sources last year, watchdogs have found.
At the same time, the country continues to subsidize the struggling state-owned oil company Pemex while beefing up its oil and natural gas infrastructure with new refineries and massive, transnational pipelines. The projects worry environmentalists not only because of climate change impacts caused by carbon emissions, but because they can pollute marine ecosystems and encroach on local and Indigenous communities.
Pipelines currently under construction in southern Mexico have proven especially controversial, with residents saying they were never consulted about the projects and that they could compromise their way of life, which includes coastal tourism and fishing. Conservationists also say adequate environmental impact studies were never carried out.
“We’re dealing with the issue of climate change, and that’s an issue that’s already very, very evident,” Ramón García Sánchez, an attorney with the Mexican Alliance against Fracking, said. “It’s increasingly necessary, and logical, that this type of infrastructure and development in these industries needs to stop.”
One of the projects, the $4.5-billion Southeast Gateway Gas pipeline, is scheduled to start operating next year. It will expand the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan natural gas pipeline that runs 800 km (497 miles) under the Gulf of Mexico, supplying powerplants in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas. The expansion will run 690 kilometers (428 miles) to other parts of Veracruz and the Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco.
Another pipeline under construction, the $458-million Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, will transport natural gas from southern Texas to power plants in the states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo.
Because the pipelines run underwater, construction could threaten marine ecosystems, most notably coral reefs. The Southwestern Gulf of Mexico Reef Corridor passes along the coast of Veracruz, much of which still doesn’t have conservation protections. Chemical spills during construction are a serious concern for environmental groups, as well as the possibility of future oil spills once the pipeline is operational.
Conservationists are concerned several protected areas near the pipelines, including the 65,516-hectare (161,893-mile) Veracruz Reef System National Park, home to more than 25 reefs and several beaches and cays. They’re also worried about the 30,571 hectare (75,542- acre) Lobos-Tuxpan Reef System, made up of seven platform reefs that are home to hundreds of marine species.
“These reef ecosystems provide extremely important environmental benefits in our country such as coastal protection, climate change mitigation, and are a source of food and work for coastal communities,” Greenpeace Mexico said in a statement.
But conservationists say many details about the projects haven’t been shared, even after they submitted formal requests. Some sections of the environmental impact study for the Southeast Gateway Gas pipeline, including its coordinates, were even blacked out by officials.
Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission and the Canadian company TC Energy, the majority owner, didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. But TC Energy said on its project page that more than $50 million has been invested in marine studies for the project, and that the route of the pipeline doesn’t touch or cross living coral reefs.
The construction sites are also near local and Indigenous communities — including the Otomí, Nahua, Totonaco, Nuntajiiyi’ and Tepehua — who are worried about the impacts that oil and gas could have on their daily lives. Even though the pipelines are being built offshore, many residents say they should have been formally consulted. Many of them rely on the waters for tourism and fishing, among other things.
“There were negotiations with fishermen, but the fishermen aren’t the entire community,” Veronica Munier, Coordinator of the Human Rights Center of the Peoples of Southern Veracruz – Bety Cariño, told Mongabay. “They’re a small group that had dialogues and negotiations with the state to give them some crumbs to satisfy them.”
A 2018 injunction against the Southeast Gateway Gas Pipeline was struck down after a court ruled the project was a matter of national security and too important to the country’s economic development.
Now, local communities and conservation groups are working to develop alliances with international groups to come up with a different legal strategy for fighting the pipelines. While they’re still in the initial stages of that effort, they hope it will include a new injunction and a campaign to raise awareness in the rest of the country.
“I have hope that humanity will react and make good decisions about this,” García Sánchez said.
Banner image: Pipeline construction. Photo courtesy of the Human Rights Center of the Peoples of Southern Veracruz – Bety Cariño.
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
See related from this reporter:
What’s at stake for the environment in Mexico’s upcoming election?
Credits
