The community organizing and advocacy efforts of Colonia Chilpancingo residents paid off in May as an official from the Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA), the enforcement arm of Mexico’s environmental protection agency, ordered the toxic Metales y Derivados site cordoned off and installed signs warning passersby to keep out. Alejandro Alvarez Cárdenas, the Tijuana head of PROFEPA, also issued a statement to the press asserting that Mexico’s border region will not be used as an "environmental dumping ground" and denouncing Metales owner Jose Khan for failing to clean up the site.

Alvarez Cárdenas said that "anyone who pollutes must pay, whether it’s a Mexican or a cross-border business, because otherwise Mexico’s cities, states, the entire country will be legally turned into a toxic dump with the whole world watching, and that’s not right."

Metales y Derivados is an abandoned lead smelter contaminated with more than 7,000 metric tons of toxic waste that stands just 150 yards from Colonia Chilpancingo, home to more than 10,000 people. On April 10, members of Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental and members of Environmental Health Coalition held a 24-hour vigil in front of the PROFEPA office in Tijuana demanding that the Mexican government clean up the toxic site. Alvarez Cárdenas promised to secure the site and install warning signs in a statement made during the vigil.

The Colectivo and EHC welcome PROFEPA’s actions and view the developments as positive steps and signs of respect and responsiveness to the community. However, residents emphasized that they will not be satisfied until the Metales site is cleaned following plans approved by the community and no longer poses a "grave risk to human health", as the February 2002 official NAFTA analysis asserts.

The Colectivo has planned a full schedule of educational tours, community meetings, and actions aimed at addressing environmental, health, and social justice issues in their community, including raising the profile of the Metales case in order to bring about a cleanup as soon as possible.