Birds drop from trees

Press, 5 March 1987, Page 34

Birds drop from trees

By RICHARD JACOBSEN of Reuters, through NZPA Mexico City

For Mexico City residents, the grey-brown blanket that hovers over this congested capital has become as much a part of the landscape as the towering volcanoes and mountains that once dominated the horizon.

The smog that obscures the valley’s snow-capped skyline has long been tolerated by the metropolitan area’s 18 million residents as another nuisance resulting from the chaotic growth and severe overpopulation of this 2240mhigh city. Last winter, the pollution was so bad that birds were reported to have dropped dead out of trees, prompting the Government to enact a new environment programme. As Mexico City braces itself for another smoggy winter, ecologists and scientists are saying that the Government action did not go far enough.

If drastic measures are not taken soon, they say, the consequences could be catastrophic. “The problem of pollution here is more serious

than the economic crisis and could be more serious than the 1985 earthquake,” said Alfonso Cipres Villareal, president of the Mexican Ecological Movement.

Last January, a few months after the September quake that left up to 200,000 dead, Mexico City suffered what was described as the worst air pollution in its history. A cap of cold air settled over the city’s streets for several days creating an effect known as thermal inversion, during which air does not circulate freely and pollutants accumulate.

During the spell of dense pollution, residents reported burning eyes and throats, and irritated lungs. Dead birds were reported to be dropping from trees and newspapers warned residents of a “poisonous cloud” above the city. Facing a public outcry over the smog, President Miguel de la Madrid issued a decree in February with 21 measures aimed at fighting pollution in Mexico City. The president called for the deployment of 800

new city buses with special smog-reducing equipment, asked the state petroleum company Pemex to produce lowlead gasolines, and ordered some heavy polluting industries out of the valley in which the capital is located. The measures have been enacted gradually over the year. The new buses began appearing last spring and Pemex in June introduced its new low-lead “plus” gasolines.

Some five factories are being removed from the valley, including a cement plant notorious for its output of pollutants. An “ecological park” is to be built on the site.

As this year’s cold spells begin, government environmental officials have assured city residents the measures have been effective and they will be able to breathe easier this winter.

Environmentalists say the measures wrought only superficial changes and the smog could be deadly this winter. Manuel Guerra, a chemist who heads the private Automonous Institute for Ecological Investigation, said Mexico City

is headed for an environment “catastrophe.” He compared Mexico City with London in 1952, when severe air pollution coupled with prolonged thermal inversion resulted in more than 3000 deaths. “I believe that the same thing will surely happen here because we are developing the same characteristics,” he said.

While praising the Government’s increased concern over environmental issues, he said decisions were too often made for short-term political gain. He said that tests by the institute have revealed that the new Pemex gasolines, while containing reduced levels of lead contain several potentially carcinogenic additives. “Pemex gained some political points by saying they had effectively lowered the lead content in the gasoline,” he said. “You cannot put the health of 18 million people in jeopardy in order to gain some political points.”

Guerra warned of serious health risks if catalytic converters — antipollution devices — were not required on the city’s cars and action was not taken to force drivers to run more efficent, less polluting engines. According to the Ministry of Urban Development and Ecology, 75 per cent of the city’s air pollution is caused by emissions from the nearly three million automobiles circulating in the metropolitan area.

Environmentalists are also urging the Government to move more forcefully in relocating some of the valley’s heavy industry.

“Taking out five factories out of 130,000 is no guarantee of a solution,” M.E.M. president Villareal said.

Meanwhile, both Government officials and environmentalists anxiously wait to see what this winter will bring.