La Paz, Baja California Sur – Federal environmental inspectors shut down operations at Diseltec, a hazardous-waste collection center in Baja California Sur, after finding multiple irregularities on site. The agency said inspectors detected poor handling and storage practices and a lack of technical and operational documentation to prove compliance with environmental law. The suspension forms part of ongoing surveillance actions in the state.
Profepa framed the action within the legal scaffolding that governs environmental protection and waste management in Mexico, citing the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection and the General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste, along with applicable official standards. In plain language, the authority concluded the company failed to meet minimum safety requirements for materials classified as hazardous.
Profepa suspends hazardous waste collection center in BCS
The decision followed an on-site inspection in which officials documented the shortcomings and applied closure seals. Profepa said the combination of deficient procedures and weak record-keeping posed a “significant environmental risk.” The suspension, according to the agency, is not a final sentence. It is a line in the sand: fix the problems, prove it with files and controls, and operations may resume.
The federal office also pointed to the next steps. Inspectors will return to verify compliance with security measures imposed after the first visit. The company’s path back runs through those follow-up checks and tangible corrections to handling and storage. Until then, the door stays closed.
Why documentation is not a formality
Hazardous waste management lives and dies on traceability. When manifests, storage logs, and technical procedures are incomplete, the system that prevents leaks and cross-contamination begins to fail. Profepa’s account stresses that inspectors were not looking at an isolated ledger error but at the absence of the very paperwork that demonstrates safe, legal operation. That is why the agency anchored its decision in national laws and standards designed to reduce risk before it becomes damage.
A public message from Profepa’s national account underscored the point. The post said activities were suspended after detecting mishandling and a lack of documents proving legal operation, part of routine surveillance work. It placed the facility’s status in a broader enforcement push rather than a one-off event.
What happens next for Diseltec
The company’s route to reopening is procedural but concrete. It must correct the handling and storage deficiencies identified by inspectors and assemble the technical and operational documentation that proves compliance. Only then will follow-up inspections test whether the paper matches practice. Profepa made clear that the suspension will stand until those conditions are met.
For neighbors and workers, this reads as a safety brake. A closure interrupts risk while setting a measurable checklist for return. For the operator, it is a clock that starts when improvements begin and stops only when inspectors sign off. That feedback loop—irregularities, corrective plan, verification—defines how environmental enforcement works on the ground in Baja California Sur, far from courtrooms and press releases.
Why this matters beyond one facility
Hazardous-waste systems run through many hands: generators, transporters, storage sites, and final disposers. A weak link compromises the chain. Profepa’s description of “minimum requirements” is more than legal phrasing. It signals the baseline the public can expect from anyone handling corrosive, flammable, or toxic materials. When a facility cannot show procedures or records, the risk stops being hypothetical. The suspension suggests the agency is willing to act before failures turn into events measured in soil, water, and health.
The inspection at Diseltec will not solve the state’s broader environmental challenges. It does set an example, and examples travel. Other operators will note the reasons listed in the suspension and the clear path to reopen: fix practices; put the paperwork in order; pass a second look. The agency has said it will be back to check. The facility’s future depends on those next visits and the quality of the corrections made.