Stephanie Jackter
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Location: Arizona
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Polluted Beaches
I would imagine this is actually the tip of the iceberg....
San Diego Tribune
Government study finds water pollution at seven Mexican beaches poses health risks for tourists
By E. Eduardo Castillo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
4:55 a.m., April 10, 2003
MEXICO CITY ? Sea water at seven of Mexico 140 tourist beaches are polluted enough to cause gastrointestinal infections in swimmers, the government
said Wednesday.
The Tlacopanocha and Caletilla beaches in Acapulco, Dsrsena Santa Cruz beach in Huatulco and the Canal de la Boquita coastline in Zihuatanejo are
polluted enough to pose minor health risks, Environmental Secretary Victor Lichtinger said at a news conference.
Acapulco, Huatulco and Zihuatanejo are resort cities located on the Pacific coast that attract tens of thousands of foreign and Mexican visitors a
year. All three are built around several different beaches, most of which don't have dangerous levels of water pollution, Lichtinger said.
On the Gulf of Mexico, the Penacho de Indio, Playa Iguanas Norte and Playa Norte beaches outside the port city of Veracruz are also polluted enough to
cause health problems, Lichtinger said.
Veracruz is a popular vacation spot for Mexican tourists, but does not attract nearly as many visitors from the United States, Canada and Europe as
mega-resorts like Acapulco or Cancun.
A government study leaked to the media in February suggested that many more beaches in and around Acapulco, Huatulco and Zihuatanejo were polluted
enough to cause health problems and also cited potentially dangerous pollution levels at beaches near the Pacific cities of Puerto Vallarta, Ensenada
and Puerto Escondido.
But Lichtinger said Wednesday's results showed Mexico's beaches were far cleaner. They were based on a more comprehensive pollution study conducted
between Feb. 17 and March 18 at the 140 beaches in and around the country's 14 largest resort areas, he said.
Lichtinger said Mexico has no plans to close any of the contaminated beaches.
"We are going to put up signs in beaches where there is a sanitation concern so that people understand that swimming in these areas can be a risk," he
said.
Veronica Munoz, health secretary for the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located, said the polluted waters could cause diarrhea and
gastrointestinal infections or skin irritation but no serious health problems.
Munoz said pollution at resort areas was mainly caused by garbage left by the high number of tourists who visit the areas and by the poor waste
treatment and trash collection capacities of surrounding cities and towns.
Tourism Secretary Leticia Navarro said the study showed that the water quality "is high at the vast majority of our beaches."
The federal government has provided some support to local efforts to clean up polluted waters in beachfront areas. As part of one such program,
authorities in Acapulco have assigned a fleet of small boats to navigate the bay, scooping up trash floating in the surf.
Navarro said the federal government would make cleaning up all of Mexico's beaches "a top priority," and added that authorities will soon earmark
US$150,000 for the construction of modern water treatment facilities in Acapulco and Zihuatanejo.
Last month, Acapulco announced it will spend US$7.4 million over the next two years to improve its water and sewage treatment plants.
But local authorities in Acapulco and other beachfront communities have long said they simply don't have the resources to make the large investments
in infrastructure necessary to seriously reduce pollution at all of the beaches in their areas.
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Anonymous
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20030411-0932-mexi...
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Anonymous
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And only making it worse:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5601053.ht...
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Anonymous
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One tourist that didn't make it out....
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20030410-1742-mexi...
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:42 p.m., April 10, 2003
ACAPULCO, Mexico ? A 40-foot (12-meter) sperm whale washed up dead on a
crowded beach in Acapulco late Thursday, a day after environmental authorities
said the area was polluted enough to cause health problems in tourists.
But the carcass arrived on shore in an advanced state of decomposition, indicating
that the whale likely died long before entering waters near Mexico's best-known
bay, said marine biologist Benjamin Castillo Elias, of Mexico's environmental
protection agency.
The whale "apparently died on the high seas and those strong currents carried its
body here," Castillo Elias said, adding that it was unclear exactly what killed the
mammoth mammal.
Castillo Elias said sperm whales spend the winter months in the warm waters of the
Southern Hemisphere, then migrate north when spring comes. Many follow a path
that takes them past the coast of western Guerrero state, where Acapulco is
located.
Finding dead whales washed up on coasts in Guerrero is not uncommon in March
and April, he said.
The whale washed up on Playa Caletilla, a beach near the central part of
Acapulco's bay that is crowded with Mexican and foreign tourists all-year around.
A report on pollution at Mexico's 140 tourist beaches released by the
environmental ministry Wednesday found that sea water around Playa Caletilla
and another Acapulco beach was polluted enough to cause gastrointestinal
infections in swimmers.
The report found similarly harmful pollution levels at a beach near the resort of
Huatu lco and a beach in Zihuatanejo.
Acapulco, Huatulco and Zihuatanejo are resort cities located on the Pacific coast
that attract tens of thousands of foreign and Mexican visitors a year.
The largest of the toothed whales, sperm whales are found in oceans all over the
world and feed on squid, fish and octopus. Adult males reach lengths of 49-59 feet
(15-18 meters) and weigh up to 35-45 tons (31,750-40,800 kilograms). Adult females
are smaller, growing to about 36 feet (11 meters) and a maximum weight of 13-14
tons (12,000-12,700 kilograms).
Castillo Elias said he believed the whale discovered Thursday was female because
of its smaller-stature.
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FrankO
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Registered: 11-10-2002
Location: Ocean Beach
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I posted this same subjecto on the www.zihuatanejo.net and got my ass booted off the board. Lot's of resort area tourism hoars are in complete denial on this. You should take a
look., it's almost amusing.
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Stephanie Jackter
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Registered: 11-3-2002
Location: Arizona
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Environmental Insanity Mexican style.....
I love this article. It is so perfectly illustrative of the Mexican way. Deny the problem while at the same time asking for funds to clean it up or
just pour a little holy water on it. Que cura! All that awaits is the federal employee who blew the whistle in the first place losing his job. What
a hoot!-Stephanie
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20030418-0832-mexi...
Official complains of false 'safe beach' signs
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:32 a.m., April 18, 2003
ACAPULCO, Mexico ? With Easter weekend tourists crowding Mexico's beaches, a government environmental official says some are getting false assurances
of clean water.
A new, official-looking sign at Acapulco's popular Caletilla beach proclaims it a "certified beach" with "waters appropriate for recreational
activities."
The sign is a fraud. The Guerrero state representative for the federal environmental department, Octavio Klimek, told reporters on Thursday that he is
filing a criminal complaint over the sign, though it is not clear who posted it.
The federal agency's own web site lists Caletilla as one of two Acapulco beaches that pose a "sanitary risk."
Klimek said plans to post signs warning beach-goers had been scrapped for fear that workers would be attacked by local people who sell food and
souvenirs to tourists.
Divers and fishermen have produced photos they say show raw sewage pouring into waters near the beaches through pipes that were originally meant to
carry rainwater runoff.
Gov. Rene Juarez has denied the beaches at his state's main money-earner are contaminated, but he has demanded federal money to clean them up.
Local hotel and restaurant owners have published newspaper advertisements attacking the federal government's publication of the environmental
information.
Acapulco's Roman Catholic archbishop, Felipe Aguirre, recently offered to solve the problem by pouring holy water along the beaches.
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Braulio
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I wonder why Playas de TJ and Rosarito beaches weren't mentioned in this best-of-the-contaminated study?
Personally I wouldn't swim or eat any caught right off the coast anywhere much north of the Bufadora.
Braulio
Oh - and thanks for heads up from Franko about the Zihuataneo board - I hate boards that try to bend reality.
Chau muchachos.
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Dave
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Registered: 11-5-2002
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"Acapulco's Roman Catholic archbishop, Felipe Aguirre, recently offered to solve the problem by pouring holy water along the beaches."
Hey,you know that stuff really works! But only if you're Catholic. They then could put up a sign...Beach safe for Catholics only! all other
denominations swim at your own risk.
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