Mexico keeps alert on oil spill
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Mexico is continuing to monitor whether the spilled oil from the sinking of the oil rig Deep Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico has arrived at its coast, Mexican Environment and Natural Resources Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada said Friday.
During an interview with Xinhua, Elvira said Mexico has maintained communication, warning about the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Until now, no reports regarding oil had reached the Mexican coast.
The minister said Mexico made an agreement with the U.S. government to launch a binational study on the environmental impact of the oil spill, to determine if the biodiversity in the zone was affected.
On April 20, an explosion occurred on the Deep Horizon oil rig of the British Petroleum Company (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico, opening a well of 65 km southeast of the U.S. state Louisiana's coasts. The well spilled crude oil into the water.
"We are permanently checking the beaches. Mexico already has a plan to act as soon as the oil reaches our territory," Elvira said.
Elvira also said his ministry and the energy ministry had began working on an agreement to further regulate the exploration permits for the state-run oil company Pemex in deep waters to avoid a similar incident.
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