About the author: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), established in 1970 by then-president Richard Nixon, is the government agency in charge of implementing and enforcing pollution regulations.

Several large U.S. companies are taking the lead in pollution prevention on the Mexico side of the U.S.-Mexico border. Other companies are following the lead because it’s good business.

Dr. Pierre Lichaa, border pollution prevention coordinator for the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, says American companies that operate on the Mexico side of the border are cutting pollution and also saving money by integrating environmental management into their business goals.

It hasn’t always been that way.

A Booming Border

Border pollution began to increase after 1965 when Mexico started offering incentives for product assembly plants called maquiladoras, Mexican subsidiaries...