CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (AP) -- An American quarry company has accused the Mexican government of de facto expropriation of its properties on the Caribbean coast, a dispute that has been ongoing since 2018 regarding the use of a port and quarries that has escalated to an international conflict resolution panel.
On Monday, Mexico's Interior Ministry issued a decree declaring the maritime port and quarries of Vulcan Materials, located south of Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo, as a protected natural area. This decree effectively prohibits the company from operating on its own land.
For years, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been in conflict with the U.S. company, which had its limestone quarry closed and sanctioned in 2018 by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection, leading to a lawsuit against the Mexican state.
The company announced on Tuesday that it would pursue all available legal avenues to contest the new decree. López Obrador had previously threatened expropriation and later offered to buy the property for approximately $385 million, claiming he intended to convert it into a tourist attraction. He also alleged that the company's limestone extraction activities had harmed the fragile system of underground rivers and caves in the area.
Vulcan Materials, based in Alabama, stated that the measure violates the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The company characterized the action as part of a series of threats and actions by the current administration against its operations, acknowledging that the 'illegal measure will have a paralyzing and long-term effect on trade and investment relations between Mexico and the United States.'
The decree published in the Official Journal of the Federation defines a nature reserve that closely follows the company's property lines. This presidential decision follows López Obrador's government cutting down tens of thousands of trees in a vast area of native jungle to build a tourist train line near the quarries.
In June, the American company rejected the president's purchase offer, stating it undervalued 'substantially our assets.' Vulcan Materials valued the nearly 2,400-hectare property at $1.9 billion in documents submitted to the international arbitration panel.
Additionally, the company denied allegations of environmental damage, asserting, 'Our operations have not affected underground caves, cenotes, or archaeological remains. In fact, we have mapped, protected, and preserved these valuable resources.'
Conversely, the company claimed that other quarries in the area have been operating illegally to support the construction of the Maya Train, a tourist train project that has faced criticism from activists, divers, and archaeologists who argue that the works have damaged caves and cenotes containing some of North America's oldest human remains.
López Obrador has previously stated that the most attractive part of the property was the company's cargo shipping dock—the only deep-water port on the coast—which he had previously indicated he wanted to convert into a cruise dock. He also expressed a desire to utilize the flooded pits excavated by the company across hundreds of hectares of limestone as 'pools' or an 'ecotourism' area that would be operated under concession by a private operator.
However, the massive pits of the quarry are inhabited by crocodiles, a species protected in Mexico.