Okfam Publications. 1995. 31-34.
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| Water Pollution in the Rio Grande, U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Issues, and NAFTA Oh, My!!!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Water is the most precious, limited natural resource we have in this country . . . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| But because water belongs to no one except the people's special interests, including government polluters, use it has their private sewers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| --Ralph Nader, in David Zwick and Marcy Benstock, Water Wasteland, 1971 (Dictionary 289)� ��������������� ��������������� ��������������� �� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| From the very start of the North American Free Trade (NAFTA) discussions, environmental concerns have been at the forefront of the surrounding public policy debate.� Specifically, opponents of the NAFTA have consistently argued that further trade liberalization, especially between Mexico and the United States, would result in significant incremental environmental damage (Globerman 193).�� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. and Mexico both pollute the Rio Grande River, which is the borderbetween them, in different ways.� They argue who is more responsible for polluting Rio Grande's precious resource.� North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is probably one of the causes of these problems. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Points about Water Pollution��������� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� �Water pollution is any chemical, biological, or physical change in water quality that has a harmful effect on living organisms or that makes water unusable for desired uses (Miller 515).�� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� The North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed at the end of 1992 and approved by the U.S. Congress in the Fall of 1993.� The agreement, which is meant to strengthen trade relationships between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, was the culmination of more than three years of sometimes difficult negotiations between the countries (Texas Internet. One of the main objectives of the agreement is the elimination of tariffs between Canada, Mexico, and the United States on qualifying goods, It also strives to promotes fair competition, increase investment in the territories, protect and enforce intellectual property rights, and establish a framework for further cooperation between the countries (Brief Internet). Also, the three countries established agencies to address environmental issues related to NAFTA (Texas Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water Pollution Issues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����The free trade zones and maquiladora industries along the U.S.-Mexico border have coated numerous environmental problems.� For one, the oversight of these industries activities related to the environment inadequate.� The presence of these industries has led to the development of mass squatter settlements characterized by deplorable living conditions whose people had poor drinking water and inadequate sewage treatment (Environmental Internet). Inadequate sewage treatment has been especially controversial in the cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. For years, the citizens have angrily watched and smelled as dozens of sewage of outfalls across the river poured black sludge into the Rio Grande. The people of Nuevo Laredo pointed out the high costs of constructing a treatment plant while arguing that Laredo has done its share of contaminating the river (History Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ��������������� In 1989, engineers from the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and its Mexico's Comision Internacional de Limites y Aguas met to discuss options for Nuevo Laredo, such as setting up sewage collectors, separating of sewers and storm drains, and building a water treatment plant capable of treating 31 million gallons of sewage a day. But, the collapse of the Mexican peso in 1995 stalled the construction of these projects (History Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� In addition to human waste, industrial pollutants have also threatened the health of the Rio Grande.� Mexico's Border Industrialization Program of 1965 attracted rapid growth of foreign-owned factories called maquiladoras in the border area (History Internet), which has brought the by-products of industrialization to the border-hazardous waste, air, and water pollution, and the accompanying need for migration. Manufacturers like General Motors, Ford, RCA, and General Electric have utilized the cheaper labor pool and less restrictive environmental laws of Mexico but at a high environmental cost (Lecture 19 Internet). The number of these factors have grown from 12 in 1965 to 455 in 1974,also the number of employees have dramatically increased from 3,087 to 75, 977. By 1992, estimates pleaded the number of plants at 1,198 and the number of workers at 452,537. By 1995, Nuevo Laredo was home to 74 maquiladoras (History Internet). Mexico's Secretariat of Commerce and i ndustrial Development argues that a majority of the maquiladoras' wastes were generated in the U.S., a majority of such wastes ended up in Mexico. To make matters worse, an estimated 98% of the maquiladoras fail to treat wastewater (History Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Maquiladoras on the south side of the border are not the only source of industrial pollutants entering the Rio Grande, the four-fingered Manadas Creek tributary in Laredo.� One finger crosses paths with several industrial plants and an engine repair shop, while another has become an illegal dumping ground for refuse as diverse as tires, diaper bags, typewriters, and video games. Just south of the dumping area on the same finger of the creek, a number of leaking oil, lubricant, and solvent drums have transformed the creek into a swamp of black and toxic sludge. The creek also meanders past an industrial park filled with trucking industry warehouses which often hold barrels of toxic materials awaiting pick-up or delivery from across the border (History Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Another great risk to Rio Grande's water quality is the transportation of hazardous substances across the border. The danger became clear in July 1995 when a tanker spilled a small amount of glacial acrylic acid. This is a highly flammable chemical, which can cause irritation to the lungs, skin, and eyes (History Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Effects of these Water Pollution Issues in the Rio Grande River | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Evidence of Rio Grande pollution can be seen in the fate of the river's fauna. The toxins have infected fish tissues, and dead fish floating on the river's surface has become a common sight.� The same pollution that kills the fish has also proven harmful for the people that live near the river.� The poor are most vulnerable to water-related disease, as evidenced by the high rates of gastrointestinal diseases such as salmonellosis, shigellosis, amebiasis, and hepatitis A in the colonies of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo (History Internet).� In San Elizario, Texas, where a shared aquifer has been contaminated, 35 percent of the children contract hepatitis A by age 8, and 90 percent of adults have had it by age 35 (Moss 21).� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| �To make matters worse, Laredo has suffered cholera outbreaks, and officials fear the appearance of the disease elsewhere (History Internet).� Brownsville, Texas has seen a significant growth in the proportion of babies with birth defects. The incidence of birth defects was high for Texas, but not for communities on the Mexican side of the border (Moss 21). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NAFTA and these problems�������� � | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� The U.S. and Mexico have different standards when environmental issues come to one's mind (Runge 34).� Without NAFTA, it is doubtful that environmental problems would have received the attention they have received.� While NAFTA may lead to trade patterns with negative environmental effects, it also has created an opportunity to address these effects more openly than ever before (Runge 61).��� �Failure to crack down on maquiladoras was never a problem of resources but of political will. Many maquiladoras ignored requirements the hazardous byproducts that are trucked back across the border. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There is nothing in NAFTA itself that makes border pollution worse, and several things that can make it better.� The agreement includes environmental provisions that should improve enforcement and encourage stricter regulations in the future. (Orme 167).� The biggest challenge for the border, the maquiladoras' special customs status will be eliminated.� Instead, existing plants will begin servicing both markets, instead of importing and exporting virtually everything across the border (Orme 167).������ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Four main concerns about the agreement have been voiced by environmentalists | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The first is that the NAFTA could result in a reduction of environmental regulations to the lowest prevailing standards in the free-trade area.� This would come about as a result of the harmonisation of standards which could be used to reduce more restrictive national standards to existing internationally recognized levels. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The second concern relates to the poor enforcement of environmental laws in Mexico.� On the evidence of the maquiladora zone, it is easy to see how Mexico could simply become a polluter's heaven for those companies which are unwilling to comply with regulations which are enforced in the USA or Canada, but not in Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thirdly there is concern that, given budgetary constraints, there is insufficient funding for Mexican government agencies to deal properly with pollution problems. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finally, the NAFTA will inhibit the ability of governments to control exports of natural resources for conservation purposes, with the aim of encouraging domestic processing of raw materials.� For Mexico this could mean losing any means of controlling its oil industry (Coote 33). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| �Likely Trends in the Absence of NAFTA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Without NAFTA, companies would have the ability to continue to seriously polluting the Rio Grande River.� It is also possible that further development and population growth in the border area will be tempered by limitations on water availability (Report 125).� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� To the extent that the rate of border growth could be expected to continue in the absence of NAFTA, the need for better management of water resources in the border area is likely to become more critical. An example is increased industrial activity in areas dependent upon groundwater could potentially deplete local aquifers (Report 125).� Without the agreement, however, there might be some difficulty is sustaining the current level of cooperation between? the bordering countries in providing and regulating water quality-related facilities (Report 125). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conclusion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Although NAFTA was once heralded as the trade agreement of the future and as a model for foreign policy negotiations, there is serious concern now that political and economic stability in Mexico may reduce the treaty's real significance.� As with many issues, it may take a crisis for the environmental problems to return to the public policy agenda and for Congress to take a second, more serious look, at NAFTA (Lecture 19 Internet). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Works Cited | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coote, Belinda.� NAFTA and the environment.� NAFTA: Poverty and Free Trade in Mexico. UK: Okfam Publications. 1995. 31-34. |
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| Environmental Focus: NAFTA and the Texas/Mexico Border Environment.� Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Environmental Almanac.� Available online.� Internet.� Accessed: November 19, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998.http://www.tec.org/almanac/NAFTA-FOCUS.HTML | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Globerman, Steven and Walker, Michael, editors.� Trade Liberalization and the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Environment.� Assessing NAFTA: A Trinational Analysis.� Vancouver, British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Columbia, Canada: The Fraser Institute. 1993.�� 293-314. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo.� Available online.� Internet.� | Accessed: November 19, 1998.� | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� http://www.riogrande.org/basin/history/laredos.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture 19: NAFTA, the Environment, and Public Policy.� Available online.� Internet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| �Accessed: November 19, 1998.� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� http://www.smpcollege.com/SMP_GOVT/playpwr/lect_19.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miller, Jr., G. Tyler.� Water Pollution.� Living in the Environment.� Tenth edition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.� 1998.� 514-539. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moss, Jr., Ambler H, editor. NAFTA's Opportunity.� Assessments of the North | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� American Free Trade Agreement.� New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. 1993. 19-32. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NAFTA: A Brief History.� U.S. Customs Service.� Available online.� Internet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessed: November 19, 1998.� http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/nafta/history.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Section IV:� Specific Environmental Effects (Water Use and Quality). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The NAFTA: Report on Environmental Issues.� The United States Government. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 1993.� 120-125. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orme Jr., William A.� The Wearing of Green. Understanding NAFTA.� Austin, Texas: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� University of Texas Press.� 1996.� 152-180. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Renk, Becca, Jarvis, Becky, and Guttmacker.� Environmental Effects of NAFTA.� | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Available online.� Internet.� Accessed: November 19, 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/17Fall97/nafta/environmental.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rodes, Barbara K and Odell, Rice.� A Dictionary of Environmental Quotations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.� 1992. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Runge, C. Ford. Free Trade Agreements and the Environment: The EU and NAFTA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Freer Trade, Protected Environment: Balancing Trade Liberalization and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Environmental Interests.� New York, New York: Council on Foreign Relations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Press.� 1994.� 34-70. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||