TY - GEN
T1 - Land subsidence and environmental law in Mexico
T2 - 8th International Symposium on Land Subsidence, EISOLS
AU - Gutiérrez-Yurrita, Pedro Joaquín
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - The land subsidence problems in Mexico have been increasing in recent years owing to excessive withdrawal of fluids, especially water and petroleum products. The main problem with the extraction of fluids from below the ground surface is often that the heavily populated cities, like Mexico City, are very much affected; there is an urgent need for new ways to identify and control the land subsidence related processes. Mexico as a whole is dominated by a long chain of mountainous terrain which is dissected by regional and trans-regional faults which run for long distances and along which the major cities are often located. The extraction of large volumes of fluids from the subsoil reduces pore pressure in particular zones, and causes surface subsidence. The combination of human and geological conditions can be related at a smaller scale, as this often happens locally in certain regions, especially in Mexico City. However, despite the importance of such phenomena, so significant as to justify a Federal Regulation and the inclusion in Criminal and Civil Codes of the definition of environmental crime by subsidence and civil damages for the same phenomenon, as well as special rules to repair the damage from this cause, there are none. A review of case law in Mexico (jurisprudence) of either constitutional disputes or any other cause related to subsidence problems did not find any relevant thesis or sentence. In this paper, a review of liability for environmental damage in Mexico and its relationship to the phenomena of subsidence induced by human activities is made.
AB - The land subsidence problems in Mexico have been increasing in recent years owing to excessive withdrawal of fluids, especially water and petroleum products. The main problem with the extraction of fluids from below the ground surface is often that the heavily populated cities, like Mexico City, are very much affected; there is an urgent need for new ways to identify and control the land subsidence related processes. Mexico as a whole is dominated by a long chain of mountainous terrain which is dissected by regional and trans-regional faults which run for long distances and along which the major cities are often located. The extraction of large volumes of fluids from the subsoil reduces pore pressure in particular zones, and causes surface subsidence. The combination of human and geological conditions can be related at a smaller scale, as this often happens locally in certain regions, especially in Mexico City. However, despite the importance of such phenomena, so significant as to justify a Federal Regulation and the inclusion in Criminal and Civil Codes of the definition of environmental crime by subsidence and civil damages for the same phenomenon, as well as special rules to repair the damage from this cause, there are none. A review of case law in Mexico (jurisprudence) of either constitutional disputes or any other cause related to subsidence problems did not find any relevant thesis or sentence. In this paper, a review of liability for environmental damage in Mexico and its relationship to the phenomena of subsidence induced by human activities is made.
KW - Ecology
KW - Management of nonrenewable natural resources
KW - Mining
KW - Water and gas withdrawal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952646847&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Contribución a la conferencia
AN - SCOPUS:79952646847
SN - 9781907161124
T3 - IAHS-AISH Publication
SP - 396
EP - 401
BT - Land Subsidence, Associated Hazards and the Role of Natural Resources Development
Y2 - 17 October 2010 through 22 October 2010
ER -