Grupo México, owner of the mining complex Buenavista del Cobre, in Sonora, which caused a massive water spill and the pollution of the river Bacanuchi, the main source of liquid for many communities in the area, informed that it placed emergency measures to keep the incident from happening again.

The spill of over 52,318 cubic yards of sulfuric acid from the Cananea mine was reported on Friday, and it affected not only the Bacanuchi, but also the Sonora river and the municipalities of Arizpe, Banámichi, Baviácora, Acochi and Ures.

The company said that it built a containment wall to contain the water spilling from a containment dam with copper and other metals processed with the acid.

As a result of the incident, the office of the National Water Commission in Sonora informed that Grupo México will be fined with 100,000 dollars.

According to Grupo México, the spill was caused by an unexpected influx of water in the area and “once the company was aware of the situation, it immediately proceeded to rise a strong enough containment wall to stop the leak and also keep it from happening again.”

In a press release, the company said that the mining complex activated all the emergency protocols and informed the Ministry of the Environment and local authorities about the incident. It also informed that the contaminated water would be purified using lime.

“As a Socially Responsible Company, it also began the installation of portable purification plants, not just to respond to the incident, but also to any other case,” according to the press release.