SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Mexican Oil Spill Leaves 100K Without Drinking Water
Greenpeace Mexico says incident underscores problems with 'dirty' oil industry
Apr 16, 2015
An oil spill in the Mexican state of Tabasco has left roughly 100,000 people without drinking water on Wednesday.
The spill, which occurred on Sunday, was reportedly the result of a Pemex pipeline being breached by oil thieves.
It polluted two rivers, forcing the shutdown of four water treatment plants, which initially left half a million people without drinking water.
Mayor of the state capital of Villahermosa, Humberto de los Santos Betruy, said the spill caused "heavy ecological damage."
Greenpeace Mexico said the spill, along with the Pemex rig explosion earlier this month that left at least four people dead, were further evidence of how risky and dirty the oil industry is. Gustavo Ampugnani, head of the group's energy and climate change campaign, further condemned the "blind pursuit of more oil that causes pollution of the lands, rivers, seas, and air of our cities" and that will "worsen climate change."
Greenpeace International's Arin de Hoogt wrote following the Pemex rig explosion: "It's time to expose the fossil fuel industry for what it really is; a mindless, out-of-control profit machine hell bent on making cash while sacrificing the welfare of our planet.
"It's time to show them that we know the answer to our energy needs lie in the sun and the wind, and no amount of polluting emissions will hide this reality anymore," he wrote.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
An oil spill in the Mexican state of Tabasco has left roughly 100,000 people without drinking water on Wednesday.
The spill, which occurred on Sunday, was reportedly the result of a Pemex pipeline being breached by oil thieves.
It polluted two rivers, forcing the shutdown of four water treatment plants, which initially left half a million people without drinking water.
Mayor of the state capital of Villahermosa, Humberto de los Santos Betruy, said the spill caused "heavy ecological damage."
Greenpeace Mexico said the spill, along with the Pemex rig explosion earlier this month that left at least four people dead, were further evidence of how risky and dirty the oil industry is. Gustavo Ampugnani, head of the group's energy and climate change campaign, further condemned the "blind pursuit of more oil that causes pollution of the lands, rivers, seas, and air of our cities" and that will "worsen climate change."
Greenpeace International's Arin de Hoogt wrote following the Pemex rig explosion: "It's time to expose the fossil fuel industry for what it really is; a mindless, out-of-control profit machine hell bent on making cash while sacrificing the welfare of our planet.
"It's time to show them that we know the answer to our energy needs lie in the sun and the wind, and no amount of polluting emissions will hide this reality anymore," he wrote.
An oil spill in the Mexican state of Tabasco has left roughly 100,000 people without drinking water on Wednesday.
The spill, which occurred on Sunday, was reportedly the result of a Pemex pipeline being breached by oil thieves.
It polluted two rivers, forcing the shutdown of four water treatment plants, which initially left half a million people without drinking water.
Mayor of the state capital of Villahermosa, Humberto de los Santos Betruy, said the spill caused "heavy ecological damage."
Greenpeace Mexico said the spill, along with the Pemex rig explosion earlier this month that left at least four people dead, were further evidence of how risky and dirty the oil industry is. Gustavo Ampugnani, head of the group's energy and climate change campaign, further condemned the "blind pursuit of more oil that causes pollution of the lands, rivers, seas, and air of our cities" and that will "worsen climate change."
Greenpeace International's Arin de Hoogt wrote following the Pemex rig explosion: "It's time to expose the fossil fuel industry for what it really is; a mindless, out-of-control profit machine hell bent on making cash while sacrificing the welfare of our planet.
"It's time to show them that we know the answer to our energy needs lie in the sun and the wind, and no amount of polluting emissions will hide this reality anymore," he wrote.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.