Maya Train Damages Cenotes, Gov’t Admits

Mexico City, Mexico — The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, has acknowledged that construction work on the Maya Train, particularly on Section 5, has caused damage to cenotes and caverns. She assured that efforts are underway to comply with 95 percent of the actions imposed to mitigate the environmental damage.

During her appearance before the joint commissions of Environment and Natural Resources, and Climate Change and Sustainability of the Chamber of Deputies, Bárcena explained that an inter-institutional group—composed of Semarnat, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), and the Maya Train—meets weekly to review environmental permits, as well as pending mitigation measures.

“What we have done is evaluate all the permits that the Maya Train has, those it has and those it does not have, so that the work can be regularized. Regularizing the Maya Train work means imposing a series of environmental impact conditions, that is, criteria or actions imposed to mitigate or prevent damage to the environment,” explained the official.

Bárcena indicated that the government has identified the need to strengthen surveillance and the restoration of areas damaged by the train's construction, one of the priority projects of the current administration. She stated that the necessary reforestation areas have been quantified to compensate for the effects of deforestation caused by the development of the railway project.

“We are working to regularize the works carried out in terms of environmental impact—which represent 45 percent of the change in land use—and to achieve compliance with 95 percent of the imposed environmental conditions,” she added.

The head of Semarnat acknowledged to the legislators that, in Section 5, which crosses the cenote zone between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, direct damage to eight caverns and underground water bodies was detected. She said that work has been instructed to clean and remove the concrete poured during construction.

“Yes, we are very aware that in Section 5 there has been damage to the eight caverns and cenotes that are found there. We have been working to have the cleaning and concrete removal work done. We meet every week to review the progress,” she specified.

Bárcena emphasized that the Maya Train, despite its magnitude, “is not exempt from complying with environmental law,” and that her department maintains permanent supervision over compliance with the conditions imposed regarding ecological impact, biodiversity, and change of land use.

Finally, the secretary assured that the federal government seeks to balance economic and tourist development with the preservation of the southeast's ecosystems, through reforestation plans, species conservation, and soil restoration, although she acknowledged that “the challenges are enormous and the damages already caused require constant monitoring.”