Border Trouble — Rivers in Peril: A Report on Water Pollution Due to Industrial Development in Northern Mexico

Ambivalent Landscapes: Environmental Justice in the US–Mexico Borderlands

“…Over time, she had become increasingly convinced that some of the medical conditions she observed in colonia residents, including seizures, headaches, respiratory ailments, skin lesions on the neck and back (particularly noticeable on children playing in and near the canal), and an increased incidence of cleft palate in newborns, resulted directly from exposure to environmental contaminants within Derechos Humanos. Our analyses found many of the same industrial chemicals, organic solvents, and heavy metal pollutants found in other border communities during the NTCF study one decade earlier (Lewis et al 1991).…”

“…Declining water supplies, hazardous waste releases from the maquiladoras and other local industries, water contamination by agricultural, industrial, and municipal sources, and air pollution from increased transportation have become pervasive problems within the region (Liverman et al 1999). In 1991, the National Toxics Campaign Fund (NTCF) report, Border Trouble: Rivers in Peril, documented industrial pollution within the waterways of Northern Mexico (Lewis et al 1991). The authors of the study found extensive evidence of environmental degradation along the entire border, including severe industrial pollution in a small Matamoros neighborhood with characteristics similar to Derechos Humanos.…”

Environment, Health, and Gender in Latin America: Trends and Research Issues

“…Eighty-one percent of those surveyed were women. chemicals in concentrations``from 20 to 215,000 times in excess'' of EPA standards for receiving waters (Lewis et al, 1991). High concentrations of petroleum, raw sewage, copper, ethylbenzene, and naphthalene were found to be discharged into rivers near the industrial compounds (Lewis et al, 1991).…”

“…chemicals in concentrations``from 20 to 215,000 times in excess'' of EPA standards for receiving waters (Lewis et al, 1991). High concentrations of petroleum, raw sewage, copper, ethylbenzene, and naphthalene were found to be discharged into rivers near the industrial compounds (Lewis et al, 1991). Another study conducted the same year found high levels of tri-and pentachlorophenol, naphthalenes, xylenes, phthalate, lead, cadmium, chromium, and raw sewage in open drainage ditches within 30 yards of shallow drinking water wells (Moure-Eraso et al, 1991).…”

Imperial contradictions: is the Valley a watershed, region, or cyborg?

“…the river most polluted with toxic chemicals in the United States a decade ago. (Lewis et al, 1991) Environmental side agreements to NAFTA were to construct sewage treatment facilities but, a decade later, have yet to have established a date to begin construction.…”