Mexico's Supreme Court rules ammonia plant authorization bypassed required Indigenous consultation

Greenpeace Mexico scales Zócalo flagpole to amplify Topolobampo protest

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the federal Environment Ministry had authorized a $1.5 billion ammonia plant under construction near Ohuira Bay in Sinaloa without first conducting the required Indigenous consultation. The court granted constitutional protection to members of the Indigenous Mayo-Yoreme community, according to United Press International.

Four years later, the plant remains under construction. On Monday, demonstrators in Mexico City climbed the flagpole in the central Zócalo to draw national attention to the protest at the project site in Topolobampo, Sinaloa, where the ¡Aquí No! movement has maintained a camp since late May. Members of the movement, a coalition of Indigenous residents, fishermen and environmental activists, marked 100 days of continuous protest on the same day.

Greenpeace Mexico activists unfurled banners calling for cancellation of the project, with one message reading “Vivan los defensores de Topolobampo! ¡Aquí no!”, according to a video posted to social media by journalist Luis Alberto Medina. The plant is being developed by Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente, known as GPO, part of Switzerland-based chemical and energy group Proman, and is designed to produce 2,220 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia per day.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, asked about the protests at her morning press conference, said construction of the plant did not begin under her administration but during the presidency of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She said a public consultation conducted under López Obrador’s government approved the project. Sheinbaum said a team from the Environment Ministry, the Interior Ministry and other federal agencies has been holding assemblies in the affected communities for three months to hear residents’ concerns, which she said center largely on company commitments that have gone unfulfilled and on existing contamination in the area. The president said no final decision on the project would be made until that community consultation process concludes, and that authorities are working to ensure the company meets its commitments and that the environmental impact study adequately guarantees no, or minimal, harm to the lagoon.

Proman disputed opponents’ claims that the plant is being built inside a protected natural area. The company said the project site is approximately 1.2 miles from Isla de los Patos, which is part of the nearest protected reserve, and that the bay itself is not designated a natural protected area. Proman said 80% of the Indigenous communities that participated in the post-ruling consultation process ultimately consented to the project. The company also cited a separate 2021 public consultation in the municipalities of Ahome, Guasave and El Fuerte, in which 75.6% of participants supported construction. Proman added that the project has all necessary federal, state and municipal permits and has implemented an environmental management plan approved by the Environment Ministry. The plan includes monitoring water and air quality and protections for mangroves, sea turtles, iguanas and aquatic wildlife, the company said.

Financing for the project was secured in 2023 through a consortium of seven lenders led by German development bank KfW IPEX-Bank, and the plant will increase Proman’s global ammonia production capacity to 2.8 million metric tons annually. Mexico’s Economy Ministry has said the Topolobampo plant could reduce the country’s fertilizer imports by more than 70% while generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs; Mexico currently imports most of the ammonia it consumes, and the project is a significant part of the federal government’s effort to reduce that dependence.

The Environment Ministry has not ordered construction stopped. Federal authorities have established environmental monitoring requirements and have held a series of dialogue meetings this year involving government agencies, the company, specialists and community representatives. The ministry said permanent environmental surveillance and restoration measures are intended to protect the bay as construction proceeds. Some Mayo-Yoreme residents continue to challenge the consultation process and the project’s environmental safeguards, UPI reported, and opponents maintain that the development poses unacceptable risks to Ohuira Bay’s fisheries, mangroves and marine ecosystem.