In a major test of Mexican environmental policing, the federal government says one of the country’s largest companies could face tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs following a huge acid spill at one of its copper mines. Environment Minister Juan José Guerra Abud told reporters Aug. 26 that the spill of 40,000 cubic meters (10.6 million gallons) of copper sulfate acid solution at the giant Buenavista del Cobre mine was the worst environmental disaster in the modern history of Mexican mining. “[Our] priority is to impose the maximum fines that we can,” Guerra Abud said of the Aug. 6 spill at the mine, which is owned by Grupo México. Although many of Mexico’s environmental laws are very lax, he said... [Log in to read more]