A high wire act in front of our eyes

Viva Sierra Gorda, a project of Earth Island Institute

www.vivasierragorda.org   laura@sierragorda.net

ACTION ALERT – Defend the Biosphere, NO to high voltage power to cross Sierra Gorda..

Letters to President C. Felipe Calderón, United States of Mexico WILL CHANGE THINGS

All eyes on the Sierra Gorda, beware of the Federal Electricity Commission

Taking advantage of a weak enforcement regimen for regulations to safeguard federal protected areas, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) is attempting to carve a right-of-way nearly 100 ft. wide and 31 miles long out of the reserve’s virgin and recovering forests, in order to string high-voltage power lines from the urban centre of Vizarrón, in the centre of Querétaro State, on some 200 steel towers measuring 120 feet tall, to Jalpan.

Despite the rejection and outrage over the project by the residents and neighbors of Jalpan de Serra, social organizations and environmental authorities, CFE intends to dominate the landscape  of a federal and world biosphere reserve. The substation Jalpan Bco.1 would be located within the reserve and would conduct 115 kilovolts (KVs), nearly ten times the 12 kilovolts it currently draws from existing power links. Moreover, three small power stations close to Jalpan are already capable of tripling that present supply – enough to provide easily for its needs well into the future, considering that Jalpan’s location and unnerving transportation challenges make it an unlikely site for large-scale industrial development. This means that through the modernization of the current power line infrastructure there would be sufficient energy for several decades, with a much smaller investment and a minimal environmental impact.

The wringer is the power will not benefit the local region.  This infrastructure is part of the power loop for the central cities of the country and Sierra Gorda is the cheapest route, but not the only one.  Such a project would severely affect the vital watersheds and compact habitat that characterize the high biodiversity value of the reserve.  A tangle of high voltage lines over the populated city of Jalpan de Serra without respecting its Municipal Urban Development Plan, all this without consulting with local authorities and residents.  Jalpan is a remarkable historic town, site of a circuit of five Franciscan missions constructed by Fray Junípero Serra in the 18^th-century, a World Heritage Site of UNESCO. The impact on the landscape of this important tourist attraction would damage its image and the process of being declared a ¨Magic Town¨ by the Mexican Tourism Board.  The personnel of the CFE have used deceit, threats and blackmail to terrorize local landowners into selling their properties at below market prices in order to install the towers, demonstrating extraordinary disrespect for local citizens and their health. 

Due to local and international outrage in 2008, in October CFE retracted the project proposal, and with the New Year submitted the new Environmental Impact Statement on the very same project submitted to the federal environmental authorities.  The document is based on falsified information and denies environmental impacts, and cynically states that this is a project with strong social acceptance.  Local citizens are up in arms against the project for its impact.  A year ago a town meeting was held in Jalpan and there was not a single voice of support in the Town Hall.   

The Commission’s rationale for construction of the line is opaque at best. The new transmission corridor would deliver 115 kilovolts of power to the remote country town – nearly ten times the 12 kilovolts it currently draws from existing power links. Moreover, three small power stations close to Jalpan are already capable of tripling that present supply – enough to provide easily for its needs well into the future, considering that Jalpan’s location and unnerving transportation challenges make it an unlikely site for large-scale industrial development.

What respectable institution does business without consulting local inhabitants, ignoring health risks and the legal regulations for protecting natural protected areas in Mexico?  Is Mexico willing to set this precedent of a rogue federal agency in an era of greater transparency and democracy?

Potential consequences for society, public health and the environment:

-          Exposure to the electromagnetic radiation from this type of power line raises the risk of leukemia, brain cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS- Lou Gehrig´s Disease), suicidal depression, Alzheimer´s disease and Leukemia in people (Bastujigarin et al. 1990).   Additionally it may affect the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems in vertebrates (Fernie and Reynolds 2005). These risks are apparently not important to the CFE.  It seems acceptable to this federal agency that a few local people pay later with their health.

-          This line will arbitrarily split Jalpan in two, without respecting its Urban Development Plan.  The line would run close to the Technical Secondary School #3, several neighborhoods, and the regional jail imposing arbitrarily a line that is in all views unacceptable.

-          Operation of the power line would present risks of serious accidents due to the quantity of electricity they conduct and by their location running through the town and neighborhoods, businesses, house and schools.  This presents an unacceptable health risk.

-          Construction of the line would not create local jobs, nor is it synonymous with progress in the area.  For its geographic location and socio-economic characteristics the area is not attractive for industry

-          With a length of 45 km within the reserve, the break, power line and towers would create a large scar severely fragmenting the mountainous forests of Pinal de Amoles, affecting the hydrologic recharge in various micro-watersheds and directly influencing the water supply, especially in many rural communities that are dependent on springs.

-          Innumerable species of flora and fauna, some in danger of extinction will be affected by the installation of the towers, which will irreversibly fragment even more the area´s ecosystems.  The project would affect ecosystems including dry scrublands, temperate forests and low tropical forests, with species varying from the Jaguar and the Green McCaw to a wide variety of amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds and vascular plants.  Mitigation measures associated with construction of the power line are ridiculously insufficient.

-          There is ample evidence that these types of structures are the source of collisions and death for a wide variety of birds and that no type of mitigation structure has succeeded in preventing this.

-          There will be a net severe loss of scenic and touristic value for the area through the visual contamination of the towers, in a reserve that is gaining popularity and affluence from visitors. The natural value of the area is recognized by UNESCO (the SGBR is a member of the International Network of Biosphere reserves, for the UN Program of Man and Biosphere, and five Franciscan missions from the 18th century which are recognized as World Heritage Sites).

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-          Notwithstanding the law and civil rights, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) is attempting to sidestep the legal framework and administrative rules of the Sierra Gorda World Biosphere Reserve which does not permit changes in land use within the reserve´s boundaries.  Is Mexico willing to set this precedent of a rogue federal agency in an era of greater transparency and democracy?

DEADLINE TO SIGN LETTER BELOW: Thursday  May 1, 2009  to be submitted directly to the Presidency, and other federal authorities, shown at the foot of the letter.

Send the following information to Laura Pérez-Arce, laura@sierragorda.net

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