Mexico City enters third day of smog alert

CNN December 6, 1998 Mexico City enters third day of smog alert

                  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexico City authorities extended a smog alert
                  for the third successive day on Sunday and tightened restrictions on car use
                  in a bid to cut pollution levels.

                  The sprawling metropolis, home to 18 million people, often suffers from
                  severe air pollution due to exhausts from three million cars and hundreds of
                  factories trapped in a bowl-shaped valley 7,350 feet (2,250 meters) above
                  sea level.

                  A statement from the city environmental commission said ozone levels had
                  fallen since the decision was taken on Thursday to introduce the emergency,
                  but not by enough to call it off.

                  Authorities banned from driving all cars that fail to reach a certain threshold
                  in obligatory twice-yearly emission tests. The measure mainly affects older
                  cars not fitted with catalytic converters.

                  Offenders have to pay fines exceeding 1,000 pesos ($100), a hefty amount
                  in a country where more than 80 percent of the working population earn no
                  more than $9 a day.

                  The emergency also calls on factories to cut output by between 30 and 40
                  percent, for thermoelectric power stations to cut production by 50 percent,
                  and for half of all official vehicles to stay off the streets.

                  Authorities said people should avoid staying outdoors for extended periods
                  of time. If the emergency continues until Monday, open-air activities in
                  schools will be suspended.

                  The statement said city hospitals treated 435 people on Saturday, or slightly
                  more than on Friday, for respiratory and eye ailments, including sore throats
                  and headaches.

                  It said pollution levels remained high because of a high pressure region
                  above the central-western region of the country and another above the Gulf
                  of Mexico.