In 2025, 297 Businesses Polluted Mexico’s Atoyac River & Were Only Fined An Average $1,800 USD Per Offender

ByYadira Llaven Anzures

This article by Yadira Llaven Anzures originally appeared in the February 5, 2026 issue of La Jornada de Oriente, the Puebla edition of Mexico’s most prominent left wing daily newspaper.

Puebla, Puebla. A total of 297 companies were sanctioned during 2025 for dumping excess pollutants into the drainage network and the Atoyac River; however, the Puebla Water and Sewerage Operating System (SOAPAP) applied fines that average only 32,000 pesos per offender (1,836.81 USD), according to data from the agency.

According to the latest report on compliance with the fiscal responsibility agreement, which can be consulted on the state government portal, the SOAPAP program carried out 422 acts of authority (inspections) during the year.

Of these proceedings, 70.3 percent resulted in economic sanctions amounting to 9 million 643 thousand 780 pesos, revealing that seven out of every 10 companies supervised operate outside the environmental standard.

The official document, delivered to the Secretariat of Planning, Finance and Administration, shows a more administrative than ecological background.

The agency has the obligation to strengthen its program for controlling discharges from polluting users, not with the primary goal of cleaning up the Atoyac River, but to achieve an income target of up to 2 million pesos per month.

This resource is specifically earmarked to pay off the debt that SOAPAP owes to the National Bank of Public Works and Services.

Drastic Variations in Supervision & Collection

The intensity of surveillance and penalties showed drastic variations throughout the year.

The period with the highest collection was the last quarter, in which November stands out with 36 fines totaling 1,570,000 pesos; followed by October, with 44 sanctions that reached 1,280,000 pesos.

It highlights that the report presents inconsistencies in its annual start, since in January the agency registered income of 357,339 pesos despite not formally reporting acts of authority, nor sanctioned companies.

On the contrary, May emerged as the month with the greatest punitive effectiveness: with only 18 inspections, 17 fines were obtained, totaling one million 380 thousand pesos.

Other months with significant activity were December, with 41 companies fined after 53 reviews (964 thousand pesos); and September, where 62 inspections resulted in 40 sanctions (957 thousand pesos).

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the first quarter of the year saw the least activity; in March, for example, only 16 fines were issued, totaling just over 214,000 pesos. Despite SOAPAP meeting its enforcement quota, the amount of the penalties has been described by various sectors as “laughable.”

They believe that while the agency uses this money to settle bank obligations, the Atoyac River continues to receive discharges from factories that, in real terms, pay a minimal cost for failing to comply with wastewater discharge regulations.