ガスボンベの墓場 メキシコ

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】メキシコの首都メキシコ市西部の石油精製所跡地に並んだ何万個もの使用済みのガスボンベが、太陽に照らされている。辺りにはガス臭が立ち込め、近隣住民は日常生活が悪夢と化したと訴える。（写真は石油精製所跡地に置かれたガスボンベ）
　近くに住むウェブプログラマーのセサル・リベラさん（３７）はＡＦＰに対し、毎晩のように妻とアパートから避難すると話す。「夜は臭いが強くて耐えられない。ガスコンロがきちんと消えていないような臭いだ」
　リベラさん夫婦は、放置されたボンベから漏れた液化石油ガス（ＬＰＧ）で爆発が起きたり、健康に影響が出たりすることも心配している。
　「アパートの管理会社に、臭いが強い時はたばこを吸ったり、コンロを使ったりしないよう言われている。生活が一変してしまった」と話した。
　ガスボンベが保管されているメキシコ石油公社の精製工場跡地を空から見ると、色とりどりのボンベの墓場が住宅街の真ん中にあるように見える。
　ボンベは、国営企業ガス・ビエネスタルが保管しており、古くなったり破損したりしたものを無料交換したため、大量にボンベを抱えることになった。
　メキシコ市当局は１月、ＰＥＭＥＸがボンベの撤去を進めていると発表していた。
　ＡＦＰは同社に取材を申し込んだが、この件に関しては取材に応じられないとの返答を得た。
　近所の消防署によると、毎日のようにガス漏れの通報があるが、実際には臭いの元は放置されたボンベだという。
　 ＬＰＧは本来無臭だが、ガス漏れに気付きやすくなるように臭いを加えてある。
　精製所跡地の隣で木工所を営むフアン・マシアスさん（４４）は、うだるような暑さになるが、午後には窓を閉めて作業すると話す。臭いの影響で吐き気とひどい頭痛がするという。
　「当局は心配することはないと言う」「だが、ここに住む人はみんな、何らかの危険があると思っている。だから、臭いが強い時は爆発が起きないよう、火は使わないようにしている」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/04/13-12:47）

Thousands of disused gas cylinders sit outside under the sun at a former refinery in Mexico City, producing a foul smell that neighbors say has made their lives a nightmare.
Almost every night, Cesar Rivera and his wife leave their apartment because the odor becomes too much, the 37-year-old web programmer told AFP.
The smell is so strong at night -- so unbearable -- that it's like the stove isn't turned off properly, he said.
The couple also fear that the liquefied petroleum gas seeping from the cylinders -- which are used by many households in Mexico City -- will cause an explosion or make them sick.
The building administration has asked us not to smoke or use the stove burners when the smell's stronger. It has completely changed our lives, said Rivera.
It's a time bomb, he added.
Aerial images taken by AFP show what looks like a huge graveyard in the west of the capital, surrounded by residential districts.
But instead of human remains the disused refinery of state-owned oil giant Pemex has become the resting place of thousands of old multicolored gas cylinders.
Rivera said that he and his wife had suffered due to the smell for eight months, but only discovered in January what the source was.
- 'Vomiting, headaches -
LP gas, made up mainly of butane and propane, is odorless so producers add mercaptan to give it a nauseating smell that allows it to be detected.
Although the gases produced by its combustion are not toxic or carcinogenic a leak can cause a build-up that can be explosive and can suffocate people in small spaces, Mexico's National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy says on its website.
The tanks were stored at the old refinery by the state firm Gas Bienestar, which was created in 2021 to expand competition in the sector, after exchanging old or damaged cylinders free of charge for new ones.
In January, the Mexico City authorities said in a statement that Pemex was in the process of removing them.
Contacted by AFP, the company said it was unable to give an interview about the matter.
Mexican civil protection authorities did not respond to a request for information about the risks posed by the cylinders.
According to Ricardo Torres, an expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, LP contributes to the formation of ozone, which at ground level is a harmful pollutant for people and the environment.
Firefighters at a nearby station said they receive daily reports of gas leaks, when in fact the odor comes from the disused tanks.
We've gone to the former refinery, but they don't see us, says station chief Cesar Suarez.
Juan Macias, who runs a carpentry workshop next door to the old refinery, said that he now closes the windows in the afternoon despite the stifling heat.
We feel like vomiting and have really bad headaches, he said.
The authorities say there's nothing to worry about, the 44-year-old added.
But everyone here thinks there's some danger, so we always take care not to light anything when it smells a lot for fear of an explosion, he said.