Revista Nueva Minería

Six ministers decided unanimously to reject the project. Environmentally Initiative is discussed since 2008.

It took three hours yesterday to the Committee of Ministers to host 34 community and environmentalists complaints weighing on HidroAysén project, invalidating passing its Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA).

In practice, the Michelle Bachelet’s government rejected after six years of discussion, this megaproject in which Endesa and Colbún have already spent $ 320 million on studies, estimated at nearly $ 9 billion total investment.

The members of the Committee, the Ministers of the Environment, Paul Badenier; Energy, Máximo Pacheco; Mining, Aurora Williams; Agriculture, Carlos Furche; Economy, Felipe Céspedes, and Health-Helia Molina got terminate the administrative processing of the project, leaving it without an environmental permit to operate, and little room to make it viable.

Ministers reviewed the document of over 300 pages was prepared by the Legal Divisions and Assessment Service Environmental Assessment (SEA). With this, the government rescinded the judgments of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme that had supported the RCA. According to the ministers, the initiative had flaws that made it impossible environmental viability.

Badenier explained that on March 19th this year-a few days after the start of the current government, began the process of invalidation of resolutions adopted on January 30th by the Committee of Ministers of the Piñera administration as illegal.

Pacheco, meanwhile, stressed the independence that the ministers had at the time of voting, who unanimously lowered the initiative.

The arguments

Ministers noted that there were three key points that had not been sufficiently analyzed, which ultimately determined the rejection.-

¿ What are those three points?

1) lack of a relocation plan as a measure of compensation for significant impact stated by the headline himself.

2) Nor is there adequate quantification of environmental impacts by changing effect of altered hydrology courses.

3) There are inconsistencies with baseline declared by the headline, “making it impossible to quantify environmental impacts and mitigation measures set” explained Badenier.

In this sense, it was estimated that the relocation plan (RDP) of the 39 families who would be affected by the floodplain project had no guarantees about where or how they would be relocated. “The RDP submitted by the project headline cannot be considered appropriate because the host sites were not presented and not accommodate any study “was carried out, the ministers said.

He also indicated that with respect to hydrological impacts caused by flood flows of Baker and Colonia rivers when emptying water to electricity generation-they were subsequently assessed by the company or modeling is presented with respect to “flood risk “requested by the General Water Directorate (DGA) and Sernageomin.

Regarding the terrestrial fauna, the committee indicated that lacked information to determine project impacts on species such as the pudu, pumas and amphibians. “During the baseline survey, the presence of specimens that could not be identified to species level were detected, so you must specify these deficiencies”.

Supporting institutions

According to the authority, the resolution of complaints, which took more than two years to be viewed by the authority in the previous government, is an endorsement of environmental institutions, which had been infringed to consider the inaction of regulators.

In January, the Piñera administration partially resolved 35 complaints presented, and delayed the process to apply for further studies on hydrology and impact on the health of the resident population, mainly regarding venereal-disease outbreaks that involve the arrival of 5000 workers to the area at the peak of construction of the project, which was interpreted by the company as a further delay in the administrative process.

“It’s important that we recognize that there has been a weakening of environmental institutions, which as a society we have to take charge. We had sufficient clarity to justify the step we have taken, “said minister Pacheco.

He also indicated that the commitments made by the company, to lower the cost of energy in the area, were Hidroaysén’s responsibility, and the government has not given up on developing the hydroelectric potential of the area of Aysén, respecting communities and the environment, and he emphasized that the rejection of the draft of Endesa and Colbún not involved a “veto” to large hydroelectric companies.

“Without energy there is no growth. We will support the development of power projects based on water resources, it is a state policy. This specific project in our opinion, and mine personally has very important aspects that are little thought or poorly designed, “Pacheco said.

Source: La Tercera