Mexican Mining Giant Faces Criticism After Chemical Spill Near U.S. Border

Nathaniel Parish Flannery, Forbes.com

Mining  giant Grupo Mexico, a company owned by Mexican billionaire German Larrea Mota Velasco, a man Forbes estimates to be worth $14.7 billion, has come under fire. A spill at Grupo Mexico’s Buenavista del Cobre mine in the Mexican state of Sonora along the U.S. border with Arizona sent 10 million gallons of chemicals spilling out, contaminating the water used by at least 24,000 people in the area. The company has allocated $151 million to set up a trust to pay to clean up the mess, but has seen its reputation suffer. On September 17 I tweeted this story from Mexican newspaper El Financiero that quotes a report from Mexico’s Congress, as saying “Grupo Mexico is far from being a socially responsible enterprise that respects the environment.” Mexico’s lower legislative branch also asked President Peña Nieto’s government to cancel Grupo Mexico’s concession and suspend its operations saying in a statement, “the state of Sonora and its residents do not benefit from the exploitation of their natural resources … more