Wild cats, boas are obstacles in Mexican president's refinery race

Wild cats, boas are obstacles in Mexican president's refinery race

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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's race to build an oil refinery in record time on land that was until recently alive with mangrove, wild cats and boa constrictors, has run into trouble, complicating his effort to revive ailing state-oil company Pemex.

Even before Lopez Obrador took office last December, work had begun to cut down protected woodland on Pemex land on the coast of Tabasco state to make room for the new refinery next to the Dos Bocas port.

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
A worker rests in a hammock in an area belonging to the state-run oil company Pemex.

But oil industry environmental regulator ASEA in January ruled that the contractor that deforested the land did not have the correct permits to do so. The body levied a fine of about $700,000. ASEA says work on the refinery can only go ahead once a full environmental impact assessment is done and approved.

That could delay the refinery project for months or even years, just as the government is trying to boost oil output by giving the state a bigger role in the industry, modernizing refineries and building the new one in Tabasco, Lopez Obrador's home state.

Gustavo Alanis, president of the Mexican Center of Environmental Law advocacy group, said Pemex will run into legal problems if it continues to act in haste over the planned Dos Bocas refinery.

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
A sign in an area belonging to the state-run oil company Pemex reads in Spanish: 'Federal Property - Pemex Exploration and Production'.

"If they move quickly without paying heed to the laws they need to follow, they'll become their own worst enemy," he said.

The government has said it plans to tender for the construction of the $8 billion refinery in March and finish building it in three years. Pemex did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

The land, near the town of Paraiso, where the new refinery is planned was planted with coconut and citrus fruit in the 1970s and expropriated by Pemex. But the company never used the terrain and tropical woodland and wildlife took over.

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Pelicans gather at the Mecoacan lagoon near Paraiso.

Several types of plovers, herons and hawks, two species of iguanas and other reptiles, protected amphibians, threatened species of snakes and piping plovers, which are in danger of extinction, were identified in Paraiso by Conabio, a government commission in charge of studying biodiversity.

Footprints of the jaguarundi, a wild cat, were found at the site, ASEA told Reuters, along with a wide variety of bird species and freshwater turtles.

The land was so rich in wildlife about a decade ago that a group of Pemex executives proposed that it be declared a private nature reserve to prevent future building there, company sources said. A study by a government institute several years ago concluded Paraiso was a risky location for a refinery because of the biodiversity found there.

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Slideshow

Fisherman Luis Angel Gimenez, 14, stands on his boat at the Mecoacan lagoon.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Fisherman Luis Angel Gimenez, 14, stands on his boat at the Mecoacan lagoon.

A seagull flies over fishermen at the Mecoacan lagoon.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

A seagull flies over fishermen at the Mecoacan lagoon.

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz Hernandez, 60, holds up some oysters at an oyster farm at the Mecoacan lagoon.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz Hernandez, 60, holds up some oysters at an oyster farm at the Mecoacan lagoon.

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz Hernandez, 60, steers a boat in a mangrove area.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz Hernandez, 60, steers a boat in a mangrove area.

A boat is moored in Puerto Ceiba, Tabasco state.
. Puerto Ceiba, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

A boat is moored in Puerto Ceiba, Tabasco state.

Alexander Gimenez, 13, checks a fishing net in the village of Chiltepec.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Alexander Gimenez, 13, checks a fishing net in the village of Chiltepec.

A mangrove seed lies on the banks of a channel.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

A mangrove seed lies on the banks of a channel.

Pigs stand inside a destroyed house.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Pigs stand inside a destroyed house.

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz rests at home in the village of Chiltepec.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz rests at home in the village of Chiltepec.

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz Hernandez, 60, holds his two-year old granddaughter in the village of Chiltepec.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Fisherman Rafael de la Cruz Hernandez, 60, holds his two-year old granddaughter in the village of Chiltepec.

Olivia del Carmen Magana, 65, stands at her doorstep as she works in the village of Chiltepec.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Olivia del Carmen Magana, 65, stands at her doorstep as she works in the village of Chiltepec.

Former fisherman Carlos Reyes works in his shop.
. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

Former fisherman Carlos Reyes works in his shop.

But satellite pictures taken in November and obtained from Conabio show a wide belt of mangrove across the terrain has now been cut down, leaving a smaller perimeter of forest.

By the time Lopez Obrador came to Dos Bocas to announce the new refinery in December, muddy ground and heavy works machinery had replaced the site's thick tree cover.

After the land was cleared, four threatened or protected species were rescued, including a type of porcupine, a boa constrictor and a rare iguana. Reuters could not establish the fate of the other animals the agency detected at the site.

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Fisherman Carlos Reyes catches oysters at a mangrove area at the Mecoacan lagoon.

Paraiso's oyster fishermen fear the refinery might harm the Mecoacan lagoon just a few miles from the refinery site, and their main source of subsistence for several generation.

. Puerto Ceiba, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Fisherman Manuel de la Cruz (centre) speaks during an interview in Puerto Ceiba.

"What we want is for them not to damage the lagoon," said Manuel de la Cruz, a leading local fisherman, who has worked the waterway since he was eight years old. He said he delivered a document to Lopez Obrador in December saying fishermen want more than just "crumbs" of government support.

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Mexico's new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures after an event to unveil his plan for oil refining in Paraiso.

Lopez Obrador has not commented on ASEA's January's ruling about the clearing of the land. In its ruling, the environmental regulator also ordered the replanting of a larger mangrove area, whose location is yet to be determined, and the launching of a wildlife preservation program.

Mexico's energy minister, Rocio Nahle initially said the mangrove had not been touched at the Paraiso site. She said in November the municipal and state government had given permits to "clean" the terrain.

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
A view of an inactive oyster farm at the Mecoacan lagoon.

Only ASEA can give the permits needed for Pemex to build an industrial project on the site.

The potential delay to the refinery comes at a crucial time for Pemex.

Last week, the government announced a $3.9 billion bailout to stave off a threatened loss of the company's investment grade credit rating.

Ratings agencies say Lopez Obrador's plans to overhaul Pemex put fresh strain on its already problematic finances. Ratings agency Fitch says Pemex is "insolvent."

. Paraiso, Mexico. Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
A chimney at the crude oil terminal Dos Bocas near a mangrove area in Paraiso.