Cancun, Q.R. — A quarry in Cancun has been shut for failing to comply with safety regulations. The closure is the result of an inspection after residential complaints of explosions that shook their homes.
The blasts have been ongoing for several months. The quarry is providing the stone material needed for a large Cancun road project. However recent blasts inside the facility have not only shook homes, but have caused damage to buildings in the Kusamil residential subdivision.
Benito Juárez Civil Protection made a recent tour of the facility who have been blasting rock for use on the Chac Mool Avenue project in Cancun since June.
Antonio Riveroll Ribbón, the Director of Cancun Civil Protection, acknowledged that there are eight other companies also carrying out stone blasting for Cancun projects. He said permits have been granted to the companies who are suppling the material needed for other large projects including the Maya Train and Nichupté Bridge as well as general real estate developments.
“Some are far away behind the new mega shopping plaza, another is in the area of the Cancun Maya Train station and others in the north arch,” he said adding that this particular quarry is located 500 meters from the nearest residential area which is within the legal parameters of being at least 100 meters away.
Riveroll Ribbón said that explosion permits are granted by the Secretariat of National Defense, which is also in charge of monitoring the process and the handling of the explosives.
According Riveroll Ribbón, some 4,600 homes are located in the residential area that have reported damage. He said it remains to be determined whether or not the homes were actually affected by the explosions.
