Court rejects Sinaloa fertilizer plant for not consulting with indigenous community

[Judi Lynn]

Work on the plant was originally halted in 2019 due to environmental concerns
Published on Wednesday, April 6, 2022

The Supreme Court (SCJN) has revoked the environmental authorization granted to a US $5 billion fertilizer plant in Sinaloa because the federal Environment Ministry failed to consult the local indigenous community about the project.

A federal government referendum held last November found almost 76% support for the construction of an ammonia and urea plant in Topolobampo, a port town 20 kilometers southwest of Los Mochis. However, work on the project, which began in 2018, has been stalled since March 2019, when a federal judge halted the project due to environmental concerns.

Despite the results of the 2021 federal referendum, the SCJN ruled on Wednesday that the project – the largest ever in Sinaloa in terms of investment – can’t go ahead until the local indigenous community has been consulted.

With the ruling, the court upheld a separate 2021 federal court injunction that ordered that a consultation process with the indigenous residents be carried out before environmental authorization – first granted in 2014 – can be reconsidered. That injuction, issued by a Los Mochis-based federal judge, came in response to an application filed by residents of a fishing community in Ahome, the municipality where the fertilizer plant is to be located.

More:
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/court-rejects-sinaloa-fertilizer-plant-for-not-consulting-with-indigenous-community/