Green groups ask Canada-based body to assess Mexican LNG project
Houston (Platts)--5May2005
Mexican and international environmental organizations have asked the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation to assess the environmental impact of an LNG project proposed by ChevronTexaco in the Coronado Islands. The groups filed a "citizens' submission" with Montreal-based CEC on Tuesday, claiming the Mexican government has failed to enforce environmental regulations by authorizing the project, a CEC spokesman told Platts Thursday. They allege that construction of an LNG plant in this archipelago off the coast of Baja California Sur threatens the survival of the largest nesting colony of a seabird -- the Xantus's murrelet -- as well as other flora and fauna there, according to a report by Mexican newspaper El Financiero, as monitored by the BBC. The CEC will review the submission and ask Mexico's government to respond to the allegations, and based on the response the CEC could begin an intensive fact gathering process that would take some two years to complete, the spokesman said. Although the CEC has no say on the project's future, it can "shine a spotlight on information that could put pressure on the government involved," the spokesman noted. A ChevronTexaco spokesman said the company just wanted "to emphasize that the petitions filed with the CEC concern the government of Mexico" and not the company. Regarding the process possibly delaying the plant's construction, he said the company had yet to set a timetable for the project. "We believe that the permits complained of were issued in full and complete compliance with all applicable laws, and that there has been no failure by the government of Mexico to follow and enforce the processes and procedures for granting the permits required under its laws," the spokesman said in a later statement. "ChevronTexaco is committed to mitigating any potential environmental impacts in compliance with permit conditions and in consultation with the appropriate government agencies. Every effort is being made to minimize potential environmental impacts to wildlife..." Arturo Moreno, coordinator of the Greenpeace energy and climate change campaign, said ChevronTexaco wants to build the facility inside Mexican territory to evade US environmental regulations, according to El Financiero's report. By authorizing the project, the Mexican government is allowing "a flagrant violation of Mexico's environmental regulations" and has erred in the application of environmental legislation, he was quoted as saying. The LNG plant could alter the ecosystem through discharges of chlorinated water, Moreno said, noting that in the US such discharges are prohibited because of their toxic and fatal effects. "Chevron-Texaco could not have chosen a worse location," said Alfonso Aguirre, director of the Islands Ecology and Conservation Group, in the El Financiero report. "They have 10 species of plants and animals that are found nowhere else on earth." The Los Angeles Audubon Society, Biological Diversity Centre, and the American Bird Conservancy are among the groups requesting the CEC to act. This story was originally published in Platts Natural Gas Alert http://www.naturalgasalert.platts.com
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