Pig farms in Yucatan could trigger serious social problems, warns UNAM researcher

The effects will not only be environmental, but also social, something that is evident with the social struggles that Maya peoples have started, explained the UNAM academic

Mérida, Yucatán, (October 18, 2021).- State and federal authorities must stop omitting the scientific suggestions that are made to them, through various studies, that indicate the seriousness of the contamination caused by pig farms in Yucatan and Mexico, so their regulation must be addressed. If not, problems will be triggered, not only environmental but also social, such as those that have already started in the Maya communities of Homún, Sitilpech, Chapab, Kinchil, and Celestún, said Dr. Francisco Bautista, a member of the Research Center of Environmental Geography of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

He commented that the larger the pig farm, the greater the contamination by the excreta and urine of the animals permeates the subsoil and that despite the fact that the authorities are aware of the areas where these companies cannot be installed, the omission causes environmental impact and damage to the water table and the environment.

He pointed out that allowing the construction of these farms, with the groundwater exposed, is an environmental mistake. “These mega-farms should be made further south (of the state) and their size should be regulated,” said the interviewee by telephone, who also elaborated that mega pig farms should not be built in the northern part of the state.

He added that in the places where the pig farms are installed they will cause the water quality to be affected. “Where there are large (pig) farms, the water will get dirty very quickly,” said the doctor, who also remarked that special legislation is required for areas with karst soil, as is the case with the state of Yucatan.

“There are places to do pig farming, they just want to settle near the airport, close to the port to get their product there and that’s fine, I understand them, but if I were a pig farmer, I would like you to tell me where I would not have problems to install a farm so that I can recoup my investment ”, mentioned the man.

Francisco Bautista said that in the south of the state there are good soils for the pig industry since the soils in that area are good for protecting groundwater, in addition to the fact that the liquid is deeper, “it is not 10 meters as it is in Mérida is 40 or 60 meters away and that generates greater protection of the aquifer in the area ”.

He pointed out that in the south of the state there are vertisol soils that would not allow the excrement and urine of the pigs to pass, in addition to that there are fewer people who could be affected and indicated that it is something that the authorities know, but it is something that they omit.

“I do not know if the local authorities are allowing these pig farms in central Yucatan out of ignorance or corruption”, Bautista concluded.