Ending Landfill Fires

Activity: Support citizen coalition against "incidental fires" at municipal dump of Loreto

Contribution planned: Liaison time; funding for network of purple air monitors, info-graphics, possibly some banners

The local citizen action group that protects water, FRECODEL, has done extensive work to effect transparency, access to public information and accountability around the management of Loreto’s municipal trash dump. Under Mexican environmental law, fires in a municipal dump are illegal because of the presence of plastics and other materials which release toxic and often carcinogenic fumes into the air when burned. In addition to this health hazard, medical wastes have been found to have been illegally dumped at the site so that fires will add their off-gases to the air we all breathe. The Municipal dump is only two kilometers from the urban area of Loreto, seven from downtown, nine from the international airport and fourteen from Nopolo. The City Council of Loreto does have a Municipal Residue Committee to oversee the municipal dump. However, in the last municipal administration and the re-elected mayoral administration, the “incidental fires,” as they are reported by the City of Loreto, have not been stopped.

For unknown reasons, most of the fires registered by the police take place at night, producing a stench in the whole bay of Loreto with a blanket of smoke seen even from the tourism developments at Ligui and Ensenada Blanca, 32 kilometers south of Loreto. In December 2019, the fumes from the dump were so devastating that local newspapers delivered instructions to 46% of downtown Loreto homes advising residents to cover the doors and windows with wet towels for a full day because of the hazardous fumes in the air. On that day, the local hospital received many reports of respiratory problems within the population.

A newly formed citizen action group and FRECODEL have requested support from Keep Loreto Magical in their efforts to have the City of Loreto conform to environmental law in Mexico and completely stop the fires at the dump. The workshops they organize for public information will underline the issue with the help of state law regarding disposal of plastics at the household level, since some residents of Loreto continue to burn trash illegally on their own property. FRECODEL intends to disseminate “no plastics” infographics highlighting the health hazards involved. These initiatives should build public understanding that any amount of preventable toxic pollution should stop, putting pressure on individual offenders and reducing, if not eliminating, the private burning of trash. As well, many people will newly realize that municipal firemen put their lives and their future health at risk each time they have to breathe in carcinogenic fumes when they are called upon to put out landfill fires. Personal sympathy will come into play.

There is no mystery to appropriate landfill management: in Loreto’s case it requires that the city begin using heavy equipment. As for clear and practical regulation, it exists. Loretanos are organizing to insist that PROFEPA (the enforcing arm of Mexico’s environment protection laws) perform regular inspections and impose all applicable sanctions to those responsible for the gross mismanagement of Loreto's municipal dump. The activists, at least, know that if Loretanos are to grow healthy and tourism development is to flourish, effective action is imperative.