Mexican Environmental Group Accuses Quintana Roo of Defying Court Order on ‘San Mex’ Project

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A Mexican environmental watchdog has accused the state’s environmental agency of defying a federal court order requiring it to redo a public consultation for a controversial wastewater treatment project in this coastal city.

The Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda) said the Fifth District Court in Quintana Roo ruled on June 23 that the state Secretariat of Ecology and Environment (SEMA) failed to comply with a previous amparo ruling. That ruling had ordered the agency to nullify its environmental impact assessment for the “San Mex” project and carry out the public consultation that had been omitted.

The case stems from a May ruling by a federal circuit court that found SEMA violated citizens’ right to participate during the environmental review of the San Mex project, located in Playa del Carmen. The court ordered the agency to restart the process from the public consultation stage before issuing a new decision.

According to Cemda, instead of complying, SEMA argued to the court that compliance was “materially and legally impossible.” The court rejected that argument as lacking legal basis.

The court gave SEMA a new three-day deadline to comply and warned that continued defiance could result in a fine of more than 26,000 pesos (about $1,400) and referral of the case to the circuit court for non-execution proceedings, which could lead to sanctions against responsible officials.

Cemda also said the ruling requires Governor Mara Lezama, as SEMA’s superior, to order and oversee compliance with the court order, as stipulated under Mexico’s Amparo Law.

The San Mex project involves building a wastewater reception and treatment center, as well as facilities for maintaining specialized vehicles in Playa del Carmen. Since 2024, local residents have sought amparo protection, arguing that the state environmental authority approved the process without guaranteeing the public consultation required by environmental law. The federal court concluded that this omission invalidated the environmental authorization and ordered the process to be repeated with proper citizen participation.