Sonora Spill adds to the Social and Environmental Consequences of Free-Market Mining in Mexico

Meteorological reports revealed that the company had lied about the cause; there was no rain in the area in the days leading up to the spill. As it turns out, the immediate cause was “a tube failure,” which Grupo Mexico was quick to blame on its supplier’s faulty design. The question remains, however, as to how it was possible that governmental regulatory agencies were unaware that Larrea’s giant mining company had been depositing toxic wastes into a tailing pond that was still under construction, without a backup basin or other contingency measures as outlined in the Official Mexican Norm for copper leaching systems (NOM-159-SEMARNAT-2011).
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/5066-sonora-spill-adds-to-the-social-and-environmental-consequences-of-free-market-mining-in-mexico