What used to be an area which was only inhabited by a handful of people is now a
developing tourist spot that attracts people from all over the world. The development of hotels
along the coastline of Cancun has caused some devastating effects to the environment. As more
hotels are built along the coast, the surrounding environment takes a toll in many different ways.
Environmental regulations have not been able to keep up with the sudden boom of development
in Cancun, which is causing many problems that may deter tourists from going to Cancun.
The first major problem that arose from the massive development of Cancun was trash
disposal. The majority of the trash problem comes from the hotels. Through the results of recent
studies, it is said that the 24,000 hotel rooms in Cancun generate as much trash as the 400,000
people who live in Cancun. Each day, the landfills receive about 450 tons of garbage from the
hotels and also of the neighboring communities (Kelsey, OWINFS). Much of the trash from the
hotels is taken near the neighboring communities and right next to the mangroves and lagoons.
The toxins that are released from the trash are then leached into the mangroves and the lagoons
which cause all kinds of problems to the ecosystem of that environment.
Although the hotels cause much of trash problems, the communities around the hotels are
also not at fault. Since development has only focused on the building of hotels, the communities
surrounding the coastline hotels have been marginalized and never improved. Thus, the
environmental regulations in these communities are not pressured, which is causing the same
environmental problems as the hotels. The introduction to hotel building in Cancun has led
many Mexicans to migrate towards the tourist spots in search of jobs which increase the amount
of people and ultimately contributing to the overall pollution problem. Unable to keep up with
the rate of development of hotels, Cancun has recently exhausted the capacity of its garbage
dump and has no alternative plan for what to do with its waste.
Another major problem in Cancun is the sewage disposal. The sewage problem has had
an impact on the coral reefs, the mangroves, and the surrounding rainforests. Many of these
sewage problems come from illegal sewage treatment from the hotels. Many small and minor
hotels use septic tank systems, which are pumped out by trucks and illegally dumped into a
nearby quarry (Dudenhoefer, CDNN). As sewage and trash is disposed into these quarries, the
toxic material passes through the rocks and enters the groundwater that flows directly into the
lagoon. Many of the poor among Cancun’s residents live in shantytowns, and of which 75% of
their sewage leaches untreated into the nearby lagoons. Sewage disposal in the lagoons enriches
the water with nutrients that leads to the sudden increase in oxygen consuming microbes
(Dudenhoefer, CDNN). This can lead to heavy damages to the corals and the marine organisms.
Not only is their illegal dumping, there was also poor construction planning for the
development of the city. According to the Mexico Centre of Environmental Rights, more than
ten tourist mega-projects were approved in 2007 despite violating environmental laws (.
Some sewage treatment plants were built next to the lagoons and storm drains were designed to
empty into the lagoon. In recent studies, it has also been discovered that some “builders of
hotels and commercial plazas tied their sewage discharge lines into the storm sewers” (Wiese,
UNESCO). Since 80% of the surface area of Cancun is covered by pavement, it is nearly
impossibly for the storm water to enter the ground. Due to this, most of the storm water enters
the lagoons carrying petroleum products, heavy metals, and other toxic chemicals.
Tourism is also affected due to the dumping of sewage. The lagoons in Cancun are
starting to smell of human waste as the sewage and all the trash flows into the lagoon. This foul
smell may deter tourists from enjoying the waters in Cancun. Not only do the lagoons release a
foul odor, the water itself is quite toxic. Due to the amount of the waste that is pumped into the
lagoon, there have been reports of people falling ill from ingesting the contaminated water and
the coliform bacteria living in it (Wiese, UNESCO). These coliform bacteria can lead to skin
rashes, eye infections, respiratory problems, stomach disorders, and diarrhea (FNS, 2007).
Additionally, many divers have been tangled up by the trash and various things that are inside
the water. As the trash and sewage piling up in the quarries slowly leach toxic materials into the
groundwater, the water is not safe to drink if it comes from the tap. If it is ingested, one can
expect to get some sickness such as dysentery, and other forms of stomach viruses.
Tourism in Cancun will soon start to decrease in the near future if the government does
not take an active role in correcting the environmental problems. It is clear that Cancun and
many of the other coastal areas in Mexico are not keeping up with environmentally safe
standards and the only way to improve them is with the help of the government. There have
been few attempts to correct the wrongs done from the problems caused by development in the
area. If the Mexican government does not step in to stop illegal dumping of sewage or the trash
situation, tourism will soon die out.
References
Wiese, Peter V. “Environmental Impact of Urban and Industrial Development.” CSI: 2000.
3 April 2008 <http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocMLAWorksCited
_ElecSources.html>
Kelsey, Jane. “The WTO Should Take a Look in Cancun’s Back Yard.” OWINFS Network:
2003.
1 April 2008 <http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/showarticle.asp?search=255>
Dudenhoefer, David. “Sewage in Paradise: Mexico’s Messy Tourism Problem.” CDNN: 2005.
2 April 2008 <http://www.cdnn.info/news/eco/e050302.html>
“The Case of Cancun: Impacts of Intensive Tourism Development.” Lead: 2004. 2 April 2008
<http://casestudies.lead.org/index.php?cscid=157>
Chatterjee, Supriyo. “Cancun Travel Warning: Leaving Behind Your Conscious at Home.”
Meeting Point: 2008. 5 April 2008.
<http://nuestrosricos.blogspot.com/2008/02/travelling-to-cancun-dont-take-your.html>
“Coastal Areas- the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Frontera NorteSur: 2007. 6 April 2008.
<http://mexidata.info/id1471.html>
Google Image. “Sewage being dumped into the water.” 6 April 2008
<http://internetservices.readingeagle.com/blog/zeke/archives/sewage/sewage%20hikes.jp
g>
Google Image. “Toilets in Cancun.” 6 April 2008
<http://web.mit.edu/people/robot/yucatan/yucatanpix2/toilet.jpg>
Google Image. “Trash Dump.” 6 April 2008
<http://meaganmccall.theworldrace.org/blogphotos/theworldrace/meaganmccall/_tpw0709.jpg>
Captions
Trash dump: A mound of trash being burned in a trash dump.
Toilet: Bathrooms in Cancun. Many have poor sewage control and end up in the lagoons.
Sewage dump: sewage being directly dumped into a water system.