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to the aluminium refining plant, Alumsya 17 June, 2002 INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE CHILEAN PATAGONIA ALLIANCE FOR AISEN RESERVE OF LIFE IN DEFENSE OF ONE OF THE MOST UNPOLLUTED AND PRISTINE PLACES IN THE WORLD The region of Aisen, located in Central Patagonia of Southern Chile, received settlers only recently, 80 years ago. This has permitted Aisen to maintain intact many characteristics that in today’s world are becoming scarcer every day. Aisen possesses ample forests and pristine ecosystems that contain flora and fauna of the ancient Gondwanic Forests. Clear skies and pure air, rivers and lakes that are uncontaminated and fed by rates of precipitation that exceed 3,000 mm a year in some placesthis is the pure essence of Aisen. The population of the region is no more than 100,000 inhabitants, which permits the maintenance of the values and qualities discussed above. Such characteristics permit the development of sustainable activities, such as ecotourism, artisan small-scale fishing, organic and traditional agriculture, and organic cattle raising. These activities are transforming into a real alternative of development for the young population of Aisen. In fact, the actual inhabitants of Aisen have declared their region "Reserve of Life." In ample consensus they have succeeded in establishing a regional development strategy that is taking advantage of, and caring for, these special uncontaminated and pristine conditions. Nevertheless, the region of Aisen is facing a brutal threat, the Alumysa Project, of NORANDA, Inc., the Canadian transnational company. Their objective is to install an aluminum refining plant in the fjords of Patagonia. Through the construction of three hydroelectric plants, five dams, and other works of high impact (roads and electric transmission lines for example) this project would eliminate or intervene in three important lakes and in valuable rivers and streams. It is worth mentioning that the real area of impact due to emissions from the plant or the fragmentation of biodiversity habitat is not totally calculated. The Environmental Impact Study of the project does nevertheless indicate an area of influence of 10,531 hectares, of which a minimum of 10,356 hectares will be directly impacted (more than 20,000 acres). More than 1,100,000 tons of mineral materials a year will be imported from countries such as Brazil, Jamaica, and Australia, for the aluminum smelter and for the fabrication and recycling of anodes and cathodes. The project will produce 440,000 tons of aluminum every year, which will generate the impressive sum of 660,000 tons a year of waste, along with massive and continuous emissions of toxic gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Effects also include sulfuric gases (responsible for acid rain), 968,000 tons of carbon dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and toxic organic particulate material. This massive release of toxic waste does not have an adequate treatment plan. It is important to note that this great magnitude of domestic and industrial effluent liquids will be added to rain water, and then poured into area streams, where there actually exist waters of incredible purity, and that is directly in the principal fishery of Aisen. The studies developed by governmental organizations, NGO’s, and universities of the country indicate that the project is NOT sustainable. The impacts on the coast zone are considered grave and worrisome, and they will damage important economic activities such as small-scale artisan fishing, salmon farming, and ecotourism. These impacts will be due principally to the growth in traffic of large ships (which will not exactly be carrying innocuous cargo) and the discharge of ballast waters. As well, there will exist higher risks of accidents and shipwrecks in a fjordal zone of difficult navigation. Water quality will also be affected by the discharge of low quality water into the fjords from the dammed up rivers. The social impacts will be produced when up to 8,100 workers will be contracted for the construction phase, positions which will be reduced to 1,100 jobs during the operation stage, and where only 10 per cent of the employees will be local people. The reduced population centers of Aisen do not possess sufficient infrastructure for this explosive population growth, and this externalization of Alumysa Project costs will have to be assumed by the government of Chile. As far as the economic benefits attributed to the Alumysa Project are concerned, the balance indicates that what the country of Chile and the Region of Aisen is losing is much more than what there is to gain. Of the supposed US 470 million dollars annual added value that the project will generate, only US 30 million dollars will actually stay in the Region of Aisen. This is in exchange for the destruction of ecosystems, the risk of irreversible contamination, and the disincentive or actual destruction of the potential economy that the traditional activities of the region have developed over time with a great deal of effort. On a global level, NORANDA possesses a negative environmental history. They have committed at least 87 violations of environmental norms in Canada and the USA, which have left them owing millions for fines. They have also registered violations in Chile, principally in the mining industry. As such, the true environmental history speaks to us of a company that does not guarantee their abiding by the weak and young environmental regulations of Chile, which should be worrisome material for the governments of Chile and Canada, in consideration of the Chile-Canada Free Trade Agreement of 1997. Finally, in this difficult fight the majority of the environmental organizations of the country of Chile have united, along with regional and community organizations of many varieties, forming the Citizens Committee for the Defense of Aisen Reserve of Life and the Alliance for Aisen Reserve of Life. This is the most important organizational transformation in the history of the region, and of the country, in order to face an environmental problem of regional and national interest. The Alliance has the conviction that the Alumysa Project is an attack that will destroy not only the environmental value of the zone, but also the life project that the residents of Aisen have been realizing. It is as well a problem of the nation that puts into danger the national aspiration to be just, sustainable, and equitable. Chile, due to projects such as Alumysa, will become a kind of industrial park, where the developed countries can externalize their environmental costs. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT: Please add the organization
name and country to the Email: bosque2@codeff.cl Phone: 56 2 2747461, 56 2 2747431. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. SUPPORTED BY: Alianza Aysén Reserva de Vida, Chile. From: ghughes@wildrockies.org Check out the Global Justice Action Summit |
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