Firefighters work the La Loma landfill fire. Photo: Courtesy.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía – Jocotepec City Hall will seek to temporarily reopen the La Loma landfill, which has not been used since it caught fire a little more than three years ago.

According to municipal President José Miguel Gómez López, using the La Loma landfill would give authorities more time to definitively solve the problem regarding disposal of garbage, which collapsed recently due to the refusal of Ixtlahuacán to dump waste.

Although José Miguel hopes to rehabilitate the landfill, more than 40 ejidatarios of La Loma oppose the project. They fear it will contaminate their land, and they remember in 2017, still under the administration of Manuel Haro, the landfill was already at the point of collapse.

“The Ejido of La Loma is one of the smallest, the poorest and they still want to fill us with garbage, which is why the population will not agree,” said one of the ejidatarios who preferred to be anonymous. He said while the landfill was in operation, more than 40 head of cattle died due to contamination.

The La Loma landfill has not yet been officially closed, so the stream that crosses it continues to contaminate the lake. “The water is a source of infection and flows into the lake,” explained another ejidatario.

La Loma landfill after the fire. Photo: Courtesy.

These arguments have not been enough for the mayor, who has emphatically pointed out that if it is not used, then it should be closed because of liquids from the garbage leaching into the stream that crosses the landfill.

The interviewee said the municipality does not have the budget of around 1.5 million pesos that it would cost to properly close the landfill. He said the municipality is looking for the garbage collection company GIRRSA to make the investment to facilitate garbage transportation, prevent contamination from the creek and provide a temporary fix while a permanent solution is being sought.

Since their former plan to open an inter-municipal landfill was discarded after no municipality agreed, as well as the case of Villa Corona, there is still a problem with the garbage service.

“That landfill needs to be closed,” said José Miguel. “The University of Guadalajara has done a study and since the La Loma landfill is at half of its capacity,  it can serve us for two or three more years without any problem.”

In view of the refusal of the community of La Loma, José Miguel explained that he will look for a legal way to carry out the reopening, as he assured that he is aware that the land where the landfill is located was previously purchased by the City Hall, although he has not presented proof yet, he says he will soon reach a resolution. 

Translated by Mike Rogers