Construction Dries Up Black Lagoon at Puerto Marqués
(Acapulco, AN 28 December) The Black Lagoon at Puerto Marques, a protected ecological area, is under siege from construction projects. Recently PROFEPA (the agency that enforces the environmental laws) suspended highway work at the Puerto Marqués cloverleaf where the Scenic Highway intersects with the road to Coloso. The construction crews were dumping construction refuse into the Black Lagoon, partially filling it. Yesterday Puerto Marqués residents sounded the alarm against Geo Construction, which is building popular housing units in the area. They are accused of excavating so as to divert waters coming into the lagoon from a point near Revolcadero Beach, the main swimming beach of Acapulco’s Diamond Zone. Tour guides who offer trips through the lagoon report that for more than two months no water has been allowed to enter the lagoon, thanks to Geo Construction’s project. All tours have been suspended. When the Black Lagoon is dried up, they say, it will endanger all the land and water animals that make their home there. One guide lamented, “The whole ecological balance is broken, due to the ambition of a few people who want to make money at the expense of nature.” He explained that the waters entered near Revolcadero Beach and then meandered until they connect with the Laguna de Tres Palos. “Geo Contruction’s equipment has blocked the main entry channel,” he reported.
Another concern is for what will happen during rainy season, when the Black Lagoon normally conducts large quantities of runoff. If the channels are blocked, the water is expected to cause flooding in the main roads and in new housing developments. Last year, Geo Construction was sued by several home buyers in a nearby development because of a similar problem.
A formal “Plan for the Rehabilitation of Black Lagoon” has been in force, but private companies have been roundly ignoring it. Complaints made to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have so far gone unanswered. The tour guides added that the ecological destruction has also put in peril the livelihoods of many families.
