Quintana Roo launches leachate treatment plant to combat lagoon pollution

The Government of Quintana Roo has inaugurated a new leachate treatment plant in Laguna Chacmuchuch to mitigate environmental damage caused by a former municipal landfill. The project, representing an investment of over 30 million pesos, aims to purify contaminated water and prevent toxic liquids from overflowing into the lagoon and mangroves during rainfall.

Óscar Rébora, the Secretary of the Environment in Quintana Roo, stated that the plant is designed to achieve a 98% efficiency rate in remediating the water resource. The facility addresses long-standing issues at the area’s first landfill, where leachate ponds frequently overflowed into the Chacmuchuch-Manatí lagoon system.

In addition to the treatment plant, the government is implementing an environmental safety strategy funded through a private-sector trust. This includes a surveillance project in the Arco Norte area to combat illegal waste dumping. The initiative involves an 8 to 9 million peso investment for infrastructure, including a guardhouse staffed by the National Guard to monitor access and prevent further pollution.