Mining Giant ‘Grupo Mexico’ Befouls Northern Sonora Rivers

A Mexican federal official has accused the mining giant Grupo Mexico with concealing an August 5 toxic spill that contaminated two rivers in the northern border state of Sonora.

Cesar Lagarda Lagarda, northwestern division chief for the National Water Commission (Conagua), said in a press conference that Grupo Mexico “deliberately hid the failure” of a waste storage facility that held a mixture of sulfuric acid and heavy metals from its Cananea copper mine, which is located south of the Arizona-Sonora border.

The toxic soup first spilled into the Bacanuchi River, before entering the Sonora River and threatening water supplies . . .