Mérida, Yucatán, September 27, 2018. The Bepensa Foundation and Grupo La Parrilla are joining forces to announce the cleanup of the Pixtón cenote, located in the municipality of Sanahcat, 43 km from Mérida, the capital of Yucatan.
The Bepensa Foundation's Cenote sanitation and rehabilitation program began in 2015 and this year began on August 30th and will continue until December 8th, covering four selected cenotes in Yucatán.
To date, the Bepensa Foundation, in conjunction with archaeologist Sergio Grosjean and his "Grosjean Expedition," has intervened in 17 cenotes, preventing the contamination of hundreds of thousands of m3 of water belonging to the most important underground water reserve in Mexico.
In the second half of the year, the program began with the cleanup of the Tzá Itzá cenote, located in the municipality of Tecoh, from which 200 kg of waste were recovered. Grupo La Parrilla is joining the effort in this second effort, donating $30,000 pesos for this purpose.
An average of 30 volunteers will be joining this activity, who, together with the Bepensa Foundation and private initiatives such as Grupo La Parrilla, will make a positive impact on our environment by cleaning and caring for natural water sources.
Present at the announcement were Carlos Martín Briceño, Manager of the Bepensa Foundation; Jorge Urbina Rodríguez, Key Account Manager at Bepensa; Sergio Grosjean Abihmeri, Grosjean Expedition Director; Víctor Campos, Administrative Director of Grupo la Parrilla; and Juan Carlos Arroniz, Operations Manager at La Parrilla.
Mr. Carlos Martín Briceño expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing development of the cenote program and thanked Grupo La Parrilla for its participation in this emblematic project for the Bepensa Foundation.
“We are very happy to be part of this cenote sanitation project and extremely grateful to be able to reaffirm and continue with our commitment to social responsibility., argued Juan Carlos Arroniz, Operations Manager of La Parrilla.
Archaeologist Grosjean shared with the attendees that this body of water was cleaned some time ago, successfully removing several cubic meters of polluting waste that had been dispersed both in the water and around the cenote. However, during a recent visit, it was observed that it has once again been affected, both inside and outside, by polluting waste from the activities of visitors.
Therefore, the cleanup process will involve a team of divers extracting waste from the bottom of the cenote, while volunteers from the La Parrilla Group will collect the trash found inside the cave and on the ground for later sorting.
Along with this activity, the area surrounding the cenote will be reforested with 50 local trees, which will contribute to the recovery of water for the Yucatán Peninsula's water table.
Bepensa and the Bepensa Foundation reaffirm their commitment to environmental protection through ongoing actions to protect water and positively impact the communities where they operate.
