The Mexican government has launched a plan to monitor the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and plans to ask BP to contribute an initial sum of $20 million according to  Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT) Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada.  SEMARNAT is Mexico’s Department of the Environment.  

The funds will be used to equip 26 centers for environmental studies and train personnel for the plan, which was launched at the start of the week, he said.in addition to Elvira’s department, the Profepa environmental enforcement agency and several other entities will take part in the initiative.The funds to be requested of BP will enable initial monitoring “before there is an impact on Mexican waters,” he said, adding that “we are also considering obtaining samples of the type of oil washing up on the Louisiana coasts” for purposes of comparison.The money will help Mexico gauge the impact of the spill over a span of one to five years through “permanent (surface and underwater) sampling.”

He said that monitoring activities in Mexican territorial waters have been going on for over a month, but need to be developed in  further away from the beaches and in deepe water. ”We can not wait to see if the oil slick reaches above the sea surface, we must begin to probe 100, 200, 300 to 500 meters deep in order to know exactly how is the mobilization of ocean currents.” 

As for training, he said the Semarnat has 26 centers that have served as turtle camps where they could carry out training  of hundreds of fishermen  to assist in the receipt of animals that get oiled and in the detection of fish species to have a record of any encumbrances.

He explained that the 26 monitoring response centers would be set up in Campeche, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Yucatan and Tabasco, mainly. moreover, he added, that the government has identified 49 coastal communities which work with Semarnat that may receive training.

 Elvira Quesada said the Action plan envisages the establishment of physical barriers, whether networks insulation or cords, to halt oil income, which, in the process of degradation, it loses its liquid state and turns into clumps that could reach not the surface but at some depth.

He said one of the more expensive lines (more than 50 million pesos) is the monitoring system to be implemented in the coming days, the National Ecology Institute (INE) the length and depth of Mexican territorial waters. He explained that they have to monitor the oil in a measure of parts per billion, which is an index lowest concentration of oil in water, which could have an impact on fisheries, ecosystems and biodiversity.

Finally, the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources expressed his concern that the oil slick may reach Tamaulipas, New Beach specifically, because that could end 40 years of work that our country has been developed for the recovery of the Ridley, which have made great strides, as in the critical period of the 70s and 80s came to the Mexican coast and are now 500 turtles come more than eight thousand

Image credit: Wikipedia

Sources: SEMARNAT Press Release and Latin America Herald Tribune

<a href="http://beforeitsnews.com/news/82/116/Mexico_Monitoring_Oil_in_Gulf,_Wants_Initial_20_Million_From_BP,_Spill_Could_Destroy_40_Years_of_Work_Restoring_Ridley_Turtle_Population.htmltag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://beforeitsnews.com/news/82/116/Mexico_Monitoring_Oil_in_Gulf,_Wants_Initial_20_Million_From_BP,_Spill_Could_Destroy_40_Years_of_Work_Restoring_Ridley_Turtle_Population.htmlSun, 20 Jun 2010 07:37:36 GMT 00:00″>Mexico Monitoring Oil in Gulf, Wants Initial $20 Million From BP, Spill Could Destroy 40 Years of Work Restoring Ridley Turtle Population