Mexican Officials Close Tijuana Plant That Used Waste Ink From U.S.

Mexican officials have shut down a controversial Tijuana plant that has been receiving waste ink from the United States, and an official of the Mexican environmental agency said Wednesday that the facility will not be allowed to reopen until its operations are shown to be safe.

Cesar Velarde, a spokesman for the Mexican Secretariat of Urban Development and Ecology, said that the facility, Industrias de Monte Cristo, S.A., was closed indefinitely Friday after an inspection by his workers.

Mexican officials have taken samples of materials at the plant and will analyze them to determine if there are any toxic substances present, Velarde said.

The facility, situated in the suburban community of La Gloria, about 10 miles south of downtown, is part of a growing controversy centering on the possibility that U.S. firms may be dumping wastes in Mexico as a means of avoiding rising disposal costs in the United States. On both sides of the border, officials have said that Industrias de Monte Cristo may be one of many illegal facilities receiving various wastes from the United States without authorization.

Mexican environmental and health authorities say the plant lacks various licenses required for facilities handling potentially hazardous materials. U.S. officials say waste ink, for example, may be contaminated by industrial solvents or other dangerous substances.

Despite the statements of Mexican officials, Enrique Rodriguez, general manager of Industrias, said Thursday that the facility is legal and safe, although he acknowledged that the firm may be lacking some licenses or permits--a shortcoming he described as a technicality. Rodriguez said the facility had been purchasing waste ink from the United States for about a year, although he asserted that the ink is safe.

“We’re completely legitimate,” said Rodriguez, who lives in San Diego. “We have all kinds of permits. . . . It’s just that in Mexico, there’s so many departments that sometimes maybe you miss somebody.”

Rodriguez said he anticipated that the facility would be allowed to reopen by Friday.

Velarde said Industrias would not be permitted to resume operations until it can be determined that it does not endanger anyone’s health. In addition, Velarde said that the company would have to acquire the necessary licenses and permits and submit an environmental impact statement, as required by Mexican law.

Thus far, Rodriguez said, the government shutdown of the plant has had little real impact; the facility has been closed for about 45 days due to economic reasons. He cited two factors: the high cost of the petroleum derivative used to manufacture asphalt, and the low price being offered for asphalt in the United States. Industrias exports its asphalt to the United States, said Rodriguez, who added that he anticipates that the market will improve shortly and production of asphalt will begin anew. He said the plant’s owners hope to continue purchasing waste ink from the United States.

Industrias has been in operation since 1980, but Rodriguez said new owners bought the company in 1983. The plant, which has eight full-time employees, began buying ink from a U.S. supplier about a year ago as a less expensive alternative to the petroleum derivative, according to Rodriguez.

In producing liquid asphalt, Rodriguez explained, the ink is mixed with the petroleum product, then “cooked” in metal tanks for six to eight hours, before being shipped out in tanker trucks.

Mexican authorities moved on the Tijuana facility after press accounts last week revealed that the plant had been receiving large volumes of waste ink from newspapers, publishers and other firms in the United States.