Sonora River Acid Spill
On August 6th, a process pond at Groupo Mexico's Buenavista copper mine in Cananea, Sonora Mexico failed and dumped millions of gallons of heavy metal laced sulfuric acid into the Rio Bacanuchi and the Rio Sonora. The mine is just 25 miles south of the US border and in the past has destroyed the San Pedro River flowing into Arizona. This recent spill has cut off municipal drinking water for 22,000 residents along the Rio Sonora (it is still off), destroyed the dairy industry, farming, killed wild life and impacted all other aspects of life along the 180 plus miles of prime riparian habitat. We are up against big money and their political influence at all levels. We are in the process of creating an organization to force Groupo Mexico to clean the river and compensate those affected. We are also demanding that the huge tailings pond at the mine, unlined and leaking, be fixed immediately with lined, secondary containment ponds in place. At this time, we are looking for seed money to get our organization started and to be incorporated in both Mexico and in the US. We need money to begin our campaign, pay for phones and travel expenses for US experts we have asked to help us. Google 'sonora river acid spill' for details of this disaster.
This is the worst environmental disaster to ever hit Mexico and it is just 25 miles from the US border. Help us clean this up, give people their lives back and prevent further damage.
Who we are
We are a group of Mexicans and Americans who live full or part time in the town of Banamichi, Sonora, Mexico, in the Rio Sonora Valley. As stated above, your donations will fund efforts to create lasting advocacy and monitoring groups. We are creating a 501c(3) in the US and a mirror organization here in Sonora. The US organization will funnel funds to the Sonoran NGO for efforts here. These efforts include sampling the river water and river sediments and transporting the samples to independent labs in Mexico and the US, paying expenses for volunteer scientists and environmental engineers to evaluate and test the water and the sediments for toxic metals.
We will distribute the funds via check to those professionals who participate in the evaluation of the condition of the river and it's sediments. Through the efforts of these professionals we will reguire that the government provide a safe and secure water supply for the 22,000 residents of the Rio Sonora and require the government to properly regulate the activities of Grupo Mexico the company who is the cause of this environmental disaster.
The other on going efforts of the foundations will be environmental education here in Sonora.
Please help.
Thank You
Tom Matthews
