Maya Train Construction: Aquifer Damage in Quintana Roo

Environmental activists have reported that dynamite explosions by the Army in the Maya region of Quintana Roo have caused significant damage to the aquifer. The area is currently undergoing limestone extraction for the construction of the Maya Train's sixth stretch. The constant detonations have fractured the aquifer and polluted the fresh water in the central zone of this region, home to various Mayan communities in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.

In a social media post by José Urbina Bravo, a cave diver and founder of the collective 'Save me from the Train', an explosion can be seen occurring at the quarry. Following the blast, photos show water from underground reaching the surface. According to Urbina, the video and photographs were taken by local community members on their communal lands.

Urbina criticized the project, saying, "This exposes the hypocrisy of this project. These explosions destroy the jungle, harm the aquifer, and damage the ecosystem that gave us paradise. It represents the imposition of an illegal and useless project with irreversible damage."

Urbina continues to highlight the environmental damage caused by federal agencies in Quintana Roo due to the Maya Train construction works on his social media account. The sixth section of the train, which is 255 kilometers long, runs from Tulum to Chetumal. It passes through vast areas of untouched jungle, near the Bacalar lagoon system, and ends at the airport in the capital of Quintana Roo. The National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) is overseeing the construction.

Sedena announced last Friday that it is extracting stone material with provisional permits granted by the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat). Sedena has submitted seven Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for evaluation to regularize its stone extraction tasks in the center and south of Quintana Roo.

Environmentalists, primarily located in section 5 South, from Playa del Carmen to Tulum, have criticized the use of explosives to extract stone for the Maya Train track. They compare this situation to the actions of Calica, a transnational corporation that has been extracting limestone for years to send to the United States.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that in early September, the lands of Calica, a subsidiary of the American Vulcan Materials Company, will be declared a protected natural area. This area is near the point where the Army continues to extract stone material for the railway project.