NAFTA Environmental Commission Rules Against Liquefied Natural Gas Facility On U.S.- Mexico Border

ARCHIVED 2002–2016: Originally distributed via the eWire press wire service. Preserved as historical record.

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE |

Corporate Responsibility

Science & Technology

Syndication Partners

**************************************************************************

E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE

**************************************************************************

NAFTA Environmental Commission Rules Against Liquefied Natural Gas Facility On U.S.- Mexico Border

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, Jan. 29 -/E-Wire/-- The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a tri-national commission set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement, announced January 25th that it was rejecting a request by Mexico to suspend an investigation into whether the country violated its own laws in approving a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility next to a biodiversity hotspot on the U.S. border.

In 2005, U.S. and Mexican conservation organizations filed a formal petition with the NAFTA Commission to challenge the Mexican government's granting of permits to Chevron to build the LNG terminal just 600 yards from the Coronado Islands. The islands, located 11 miles south of the U.S. border, provide critical nesting habitat for six threatened or endangered seabird species and 10 other species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

"The Coronado Islands are home to some of the most important seabird colonies on the West Coast," said Shaye Wolf, a University of California biologist who has studied the birds on the islands. "Building this facility would be devastating for the Xantus murrelet and the other imperiled species of the islands." The Xantus murrelet is currently under consideration for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and is extremely sensitive to disturbance and light pollution. The Coronado Islands house the largest remaining breeding colonies of the species.

The Commission was expressly created to prevent "maquiladora"-style projects, as it was feared by many that the lifting of trade barriers under NAFTA would result in the increased flight of polluting industries and dangerous projects to areas where environmental and health and safety laws were not enforced. Accordingly, the environmental side agreement to NAFTA provides a process for citizens of any NAFTA country to challenge the nation's failure to enforce its environmental laws.

"This facility would be such a disaster to seabirds and fish that it could not lawfully be built in the United States," said Brendan Cummings, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Commission's ruling indicates that building it would violate Mexican law as well."

In yesterday's ruling, the Secretariat of the Commission called for an investigation into whether the Mexican government properly considered alternatives to the project and sufficiently analyzed the impacts of the terminal on endangered species.

The original petition was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace Mexico, Alfonso Aguirre, Shaye Wolf, American Bird Conservancy, Los Angeles Audubon, Pacific Environment, and Wildcoast.

A copy of the petition and supporting documents are available online here.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation's announcement and finding are available online here

The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with over 32,000 members dedicated to the protection of imperiled species and their habitat. Contact Info:

Brendan Cummings, attorney

Center for Biological Diversity

Tel : [REDACTED-PHONE] x. 304

Shaye Wolf, seabird biologist

University of California

Rory Cox, California program director

Tel : [REDACTED-PHONE] x 302 Website : the Center for Biological Diversity

the Center for Biological Diversity

Brendan Cummings, attorney

Center for Biological Diversity

Tel : [REDACTED-PHONE] x. 304

Shaye Wolf, seabird biologist

University of California

Rory Cox, California program director

Tel : [REDACTED-PHONE] x 302

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org

**************************************************************************

To Transmit Your News Over E-Wire, visit http://www.ewire.com or

call 1-[REDACTED-PHONE]. E-Wire Is Broadcast To Millions Of Readers Worldwide

**************************************************************************