Thursday, April 24, 2025

Veracruz beach clean-up removes lumps of tar carried in by tide

Members of the Vida Milenaria Turtle Encampment along with personnel from government agencies cleaned more than five kilometers of coastline in Tecolutla, Veracruz, where hundreds of kilos of tar washed ashore this week.

Tourists, businesses and environmentalists began reporting sightings of the hydrocarbon goo in the middle of the week.

Irma Elizabeth Galván, director of the encampment, said that representatives of the environmental protection agency Profepa took samples before beginning the clean-up. As tar continues to wash ashore, workers expect to keep cleaning the beach in the coming days.

Beach cleaners include personnel from Pemex, the Ministry of National Defense, the Tecolutla port captain’s office and others.

“We are still unsure of the cause or origin of these hydrocarbon patches, we are awaiting the response of the authorities in that respect. Meanwhile, we continue our work cleaning and patrolling the beach looking for turtles,” Galván said on social media.

A member of the clean-up crew with a ball of tar on the beach at Tecolutla.
A member of the clean-up crew with a ball of tar on the beach at Tecolutla.

On Friday as the cleaners worked, a turtle emerged from the ocean to lay its eggs, an event that Galván said underlines “the necessity of the clean-up, since this is a nest-laying zone and we’re in the middle of the season in which they arrive.”

Source: Milenio (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Mazatlán locals protest outside the home of a supposed gringo

Protests and confusion in Mazatlán after ‘gringo’ supposedly harasses construction worker

1
A dispute over a blocked entrance provided a lesson on how fast misinformation and xenophobia can spiral out of control.
A semi trailer on fire blocks a Michoacán highway

Cartel conflict shuts down highways in Michoacán

1
Vehicles were burned, convenience stores set ablaze and highways blocked in a day of violence that spilled into Jalisco and Guanajuato.
President Sheinbaum, CDMX Mayor Clara Brugada and other officials walk along a Mexico City Metro platform next to an orange train

Four stations of Mexico City Metro’s Line 1 are now open after a year of renovations

2
Mexico City's oldest and busiest metro line is once again providing access to Roma Norte, Juárez, Condesa and Chapultepec Park.