A 50-year-old woman from Baviácora, Mexico seems to be suffering the consequences of the sulfuric acid spill that contaminated Rio Sonora. According to Grupo Mexico, a copper mine located near the town of Cananea, the spill was a result of heavy rain and technical failure. In fact, the company has even gone out of its way to state that the spill posed no type of health threat to anyone. Well then how do you explain the severe burns and lesions Luz Apodaca developed all over her face after a quick swim in the river?
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According to Apodaca, she and her family had no clue that the river was contaminated. Why would they if they received no kind of warning? The family were driving near the river on August 8, two days after the spill. She claims she got out of the car to wash her face in the river and thought nothing of it. Everything seemed fine but the next day she noticed burning rashes all over her face.
The rashes were so intense, they looked like burns. Apodaca went to a nearby health clinic where a doctor informed her that the burns were most likely due to an allergic reaction. But after a few days, the rashes only got worse. She went to the health clinic again about a week later and was told that it could have been the sulfuric acid that was spilled in the water. But Apodaca knew nothing about the spills.
So here's the thing, over 10 million gallons of toxic wastewater was spilled in this river and apparently that waste contained sulfuric acid and heavy metals. Grupo Mexico can deny it until they're blue in the face, but you can't tell me that sulfuric acid doesn't pose a serious threat to people's health. And here's the other issue: No one was warned about the spill. The only thing people knew was that authorities had cut water service in the area for a few days, but never gave a reason why. Can you believe that?
I feel so sorry for this poor woman. Her face was left completly disfigured and it could have been prevented had she been warned about the spills. I hope she's able to find justice in all this because this is SO unfair!
Images via Desastre Ecológico en el Río Sonora/Facebook
