Judge Rejects Calica’s Environmental Inspection Lawsuit

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — A federal judge has concluded an injunction lawsuit promoted by the company Calica, denying it the protection of the federal justice system against new inspections initiated on its lands south of Playa del Carmen since May of last year.

The Fourth District Court had previously ruled against provisional suspensions because the site is already part of a natural reserve; however, the company had been appealing the decision in order to prevent new actions by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa).

According to court file 749/2024 for an indirect injunction, the company sought to challenge the inspection record initiated on May 22, 2024, with reference number PFPA/4.2/2C.27.2/0072/2024, which was imposed by Profepa. As a result, should new inspection acts occur, Calica will have to initiate separate lawsuits.

The company, a subsidiary of the US-based Vulcan Materials Company, maintains other similar lawsuits against various actions implemented by the federal government against it for over three years.

Calica's lands are located approximately 10 kilometers south of Playa del Carmen, where the company began extractive operations for construction aggregates over three decades ago. Environmentalists have previously pointed to the fragmentation and contamination of the aquifer, as well as the uncontrolled clearing of the jungle.

Following shutdowns imposed during the previous federal administration, the extraction of construction aggregates was definitively halted in May 2022. This closure was reinforced by the declaration of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto Flora and Fauna Protection Area, decreed in September 2024.

In response to these actions, Calica again promoted injunction lawsuits. However, no federal judge has ruled in the company's favor, meaning the extraction zone will mark three years in 2025 since it ceased functioning as a source of construction materials.

Concurrently, Calica is pursuing an international lawsuit that has also not yielded a positive result more than six years after the legal battle began.