Roberto Hernandez Rios, left, a representative of the Juárez city government, signed a "sister city" agreement Monday with Sunland Park Mayor Ruben Segura, center, and El Paso Mayor John Cook in City Council chambers. At far right is Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen Johnson. The agreement provides for emergency response planning and cooperation between the cities.
The administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen Johnson, was in El Paso for the official signing Monday of a sister city agreement involving El Paso, Juárez and Sunland Park for responding to environmental emergencies.
The three-way agreement is the 14th and final between U.S. and Mexican cities that sit across the border from each other.
The process has taken 12 years. "It's really important for us to take stock of the fact that from California all the way to Texas, we've established these sister city agreements," Johnson said. The agreements formally allow and arrange for cross-border responses by police, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders to major chemical spills, fires and other emergencies that threaten communities on both sides of the border.
"I was thinking about it today, about the importance of signing this agreement and the work that's been done over this past decade," Johnson said. "Yes, it is for handling emergencies. But, what it's really for is to help the people of our nation, not only those of us that are aging .
.. but it is protecting our nation's most vulnerable populations: our children and grandchildren and future generations.
" El Paso Mayor John Cook recalled the emergency call he received during last August's flood crisis from Juárez Mayor Héctor Murguía asking for pumper trucks to remove water from behind a dam above Juárez that was near breaking. "It's great that Mayor Murguía and I have this personal relationship, but we have to institutionalize the relationships between the two communities and three communities," Cook said. "That's what this is really all about today: institutionalizing what is already in existence.
" Murguía could not attend Monday's ceremony and was represented by Juárez Acting Mayor Roberto Severiano. Also present was Sunland Park Mayor Ruben Segura and Richard Greene, EPA's Region 6 director. David Crowder may be reached at dcrowder@elpasotimes.
com; 546-6194. Roberto Hernandez Rios, left, a representative of the Juárez city government, signed a "sister city" agreement Monday with Sunland Park Mayor Ruben Segura, center, and El Paso Mayor John Cook in City Council chambers.
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