Mega Pig Farm Threatens Mayan Community in Yucatán

A mega pig farm, home to over 60,000 pigs, is causing environmental havoc in the community of Santa María Chi and its surrounding areas. The farm is owned by the Loret de Mola family, who, after losing their environmental permits due to legal challenges, have initiated a manipulated public consultation to resume operations. Their tactics to justify and expand the pig farm's operations, which are causing severe ecological damage to the Mayan community, range from the strange to the extreme.

The farm, controlled by the San Gerardo Pork Group and its associated entity Chumoxil – both owned by the Loret de Mola family, has been operating under restrictions since last year due to a court ruling. Recently, it was denied access to an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

In an attempt to bypass this prohibition and fully restore the farm's production, the Loret de Molas approached the Secretariat of Sustainable Development in Yucatán (SDS) to initiate a public consultation to legitimize the pig farm. However, the residents of Santa María Chi and other urban centers affected by the pig farm were never informed about the process. Moreover, the EIS proposal presented by San Gerardo Pork Group and Chumoxil denies the existence of the community and its neighboring populations.

Santa María Chi, located less than half an hour from Mérida, has been officially recognized as a town since the mid-19th century. It experienced significant growth following the henequen "boom" and came under the pig farms' radar in the mid-1980s. It wasn't until about 15 years ago that the factory expanded to its current size, next to the town's houses. The overcrowding of pigs began to severely impact the health of the residents and the local ecosystem, including the forest, water wells, and cenotes. The 72 buildings established by the Loret de Molas led to widespread resistance, peaking in May 2023 when a pig waste incineration by the mega pig farm caused a wave of severe respiratory problems and other illnesses in the town.

In response to the community mobilization, numerous legal actions were taken by the authorities of Santa María Chi and organized neighbors with the goal of eliminating this major source of pollution. For instance, these efforts resulted in the suspension of access to the EIS in May. However, the farm owners reacted swiftly, arranging a manipulated express public consultation process with the SDS. This allowed San Gerardo Pork Group and Chumoxil to gain approval for their environmental impact proposal. The companies and state entities agreed that merely highlighting the absence of opposing views on the pig farm's operation was sufficient to lift the corresponding permit.