Jalisco: Tala Landfill Project Suspended

The Governor of Jalisco has suspended construction of the contested Tala landfill in Guadalajara following weeks of protest by local residents and ‘ejidatarios’ who collectively hold the land, and a technical opinion of the authorization of the landfill prepared by ELAW at the request of our partners at Instituto de Derecho Ambiental (IDEA).
 
The landfill’s proposed site is adjacent to three neighborhoods of the municipality of Tala and within a biological corridor formed by the Tequila Volcano, Bosque La Primavera Biosphere Reserve, and Presa La Vega, a Ramsar wetland of international importance. Community members spoke out about the approval of the project without an analysis of the potential impacts to water tables, streams, and the natural protected areas. Despite these concerns, a local authority approved the landfill with 47 conditions that exposed the lack of basic information necessary for granting an environmental license for a landfill.
 
El Mural published ELAW Staff Scientist Dr. Meche Lu’s comments on the authorization. Raquel Gutiérrez Nájera of IDEA says, “Thank you Meche for your technical opinion that backed up the community’s continuous mobilization to stop the construction of this landfill. The comments had a strong impact!”
 
For more information, please see:
 
El Mural. September 3, 2021
Da SEMADET permiso para basurero a ciegas. (SEMADET gives blind permission for landfill)
 
UDG TV. September 3, 2021
Tras semanas de protestas, Enrique Alfaro cancela el vertedero de Tala (After weeks of protests Enrique Alfara cancels the Tala landfill)

Lori Maddox
Associate Director
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

PHOTO: Bosque La Primavera. Harbey Valdez on Unsplash