to remove illegal human settlements and work to prevent further encroachment. Operations to evict illegal settlers have been carried out such as a 2005 operation which evicted about one hundred people and others that have prevented new settlements from getting established. However, the encroachment of human settlements into the park from the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez has been so damaging that a 2007 report states that there is no other alternative than to deregulate this section of the park and work to prevent further incursion. However, the situation has not been helped by the fact that there are disputes over the boundaries of the park as decreed in 1980. Since 2009, there have been further efforts by park management to stop the advancement of these illegal settlements as well. Despite this, a number of areas in the park are well-conserved, mostly due to the very rugged terrain. In addition to the illegal settlements, there are legal settlements and operations which affect the park. There are eight ejidos which border the parks and whose activities directly affect it: San Antonio Zaragoza, Venustiano Carranza, Francisco Sarabia, Gabriel Esquinca, Benito Juárez, Osumacinta, El Palmar, 16 de Septiembre and Nuevo Bochil. Established before the park, there are still five ejidos and three human settlements established within, Libertad Campesina (population 495), Nueva Esperanza (139), La Unión (329), El Paraíso (134), Tierra Colorada (199), La Candelaria / Triunfo Agrarista (631). As of 2005, the total population within the park's borders was 1927. Because of human activity, this park is one of the most susceptible to wildfires, and the most damaged by such in Mexico from 2009 to 2011. Many of these were started by human activity in or near the park such as one fire set on a nearby farm in May 2011. In addition to this, there are lime and other extraction operations within the park's borders. They exist legally because they had been there well before the park was established. However, these operations have destroyed about 2,600 hectares. These operations produce noise, smoke, dust and small tremblers from explosions used to extract the minerals. Much of the environment damage come from runoff from mining waste which winds up in the Grijalva River. However the dust and smoke have produced a distinct white coating on surrounding flora. Pollution problems Via the Grijalva River, the wastewater of about 552,000 people in seventeen municipalities finds its way