The Federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa), in coordination with the Progreso Municipal Police, Yucatán, conducted a two-pronged operation on March 7 in the town of Chicxulub Puerto, in the municipality of Progreso. The operation uncovered illegal activities involving the filling of coastal wetlands and the clearing of mangrove vegetation for housing development. As a result, two temporary total closures were issued, and a backhoe was seized as a precautionary measure.
The operation followed a report from the Progreso City Council’s Public Safety and Transit Department, which stated that on March 6, police officers detected a backhoe filling a marshy area with rubble in the Chicxulub town.
According to the police report, when interviewed, the machinery operator stated that he was working on a nearby construction project and that someone had asked him to fill the marsh with rubble, indicating that the land belonged to them. Given this situation, the operator and the machinery were taken to the Municipal Police headquarters for the corresponding procedures.
In response to these events, personnel from the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) went to the site to carry out environmental and forestry inspections.
During the initial visit, evidence of recent activity involving the dumping of stone materials to fill the inland coastal wetland was observed.
In addition, the inspectors detected piles of rubble and stones that formed part of an embankment under construction, which was approximately 50 meters long by 15 meters wide and about 1.5 meters high above the water level of the wetland.
The construction of a rustic house was also observed at the site. Based on this evidence and in accordance with environmental impact legislation, Profepa imposed a safety measure consisting of the total temporary closure of all construction and activity at the site.
Additionally, the precautionary seizure of the backhoe used to carry out the wetland filling work was ordered. The machinery was placed in the custody of the Public Safety and Transit Department of the Progreso, Yucatán, Municipality, pending Profepa’s determination of the appropriate course of action through an administrative resolution.
On the same day, federal inspectors conducted a second forestry inspection at a property near the previous site in the town of Chicxulub Puerto. At this location, they confirmed illegal land-use change activities in forest areas, including clearing, logging, and the complete removal of white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) and tepozán shrub (Buddleja cordata) vegetation.
Additionally, the area was found to be filled with rock material in the marshland and houses were under construction, approximately 30% complete, within an affected area of 127.9 m².
The inspected site is located within the Ciénega and Mangroves State Reserve of the North Coast of Yucatán. Because no authorization issued by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) was presented for the change of land use in forest areas, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) ordered the total temporary closure of all activities on the property.
Profepa will continue with the corresponding administrative procedures to determine the applicable responsibilities and sanctions. The removal of mangroves, the filling of wetlands, and the change of land use in forest areas require prior authorization from the environmental authority, given the importance of these ecosystems for the protection of biodiversity and the ecological balance of coastal zones.
Source: gob
