A controversial plan to build huge salt works at San Ignacio Lagoon on Mexico’s Baja peninsula is drawing more scrutiny, this time from the UN World Heritage Committee. Meeting last month in Kyoto, Japan, the panel decided to study the $110-million project’s potential impact on whales and other wildlife in and around the lagoon, which is part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve—a UN World Heritage site. The partners in the project, Mexico’s Trade and Industrial Development Secretariat and the Japanese trading company Mitsubishi, want to tap strong global demand for salt in the manufacture of products ranging from water softeners and soy sauce to glass and plastic. Their joint venture, Exportadora de Sal, S.A., or ESSA, already is the world’s largest salt manufacturer... [Log in to read more]