In one of his first acts as Acapulco’s new mayor, Zeferino Torreblanca pledged last January that within three months he would shut down the Paso de Texca, a 14-year-old dump where the city disposes of 700 to 800 tons of garbage and sewage sludge daily. Residents of a half-dozen communities blame the dump for respiratory problems and skin rashes. They also claim contaminants from it have leached into the ground water, polluting wells and the lagoon of Coyuca de Benitez, a former setting for Rambo and Tarzan movies. Says Torreblanca: “One doesn’t need studies to know that decomposing trash filters into underground aquifers.” When he made his promise in January, Torreblanca hoped Paso de Texca could be cleaned up and replaced by... [Log in to read more]