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El Ciudadano

Original article: 2° Tribunal Ambiental ordena a la SMA seguir tramitando denuncias asociadas al proyecto de Saneamiento del Terreno Las Salinas en Viña del Mar

The Second Environmental Court partially accepted two complaints filed by the Municipality of Viña del Mar and a local resident against the Superintendence of the Environment (SMA) for dismissing several complaints associated with the Las Salinas Remediation Project.

The ruling stated that «this Court concludes that Resolution Exempt No. 1361/2025 from the SMA is not adequately justified, as it did not provide sufficient motivation to justify the dismissal of the filed complaints.»

Consequently, the questioned resolution was annulled, and the SMA was instructed to «continue processing the complaints, undertake necessary oversight actions, and follow the appropriate procedural steps, without prejudice to any subsequent judicial review that may apply.»

Regarding the dismissal of complaints alleging that the company began work without authorization, as its Participatory Monitoring Plan required by the Ministerial Resolution for Environmental Assessment (RCA) was not approved, the Court determined that the SMA acted insufficiently, failing to carry out the necessary actions to clarify compliance with the obligations imposed by this environmental authorization.

This, it indicates, is «incompatible with the motivation standard required to justify the dismissal of complaints under Article 47 of the SMA Organic Law.»

«Regarding compliance with the obligations related to the Participatory Monitoring Plan, the administrative authority did not sufficiently exercise its oversight and investigative powers, particularly concerning the collection of information on the Municipality’s involvement in defining the stakeholders included in that plan, basing its decision on insufficient considerations to dismiss any potential non-compliances,» the ruling details.

The ruling also emphasized that the Las Salinas remediation project is of great interest to locals due to the presence of contaminants and the associated risk of exposure. Thus, effective civic participation in activities related to its execution holds particular importance.

Contingencies

The ruling also identified a motivation defect in the SMA’s decision to dismiss complaints related to various contingencies occurring in the area, based on the idea that it was unnecessary to require the project holder to adopt obligations contained in the RCA, since formal execution had not begun.

In this regard, the Court draws attention to the unique characteristics of the Las Salinas remediation project, which follows a logic distinct from typical environmental assessments.

The environmental evaluation of this project, it states, focuses on remediation activities and their interaction with an environment already presenting health risk conditions, thus configuring a scenario where the impacts are not generated by the project but preexist it.

Thus, it explains that while the oversight actions taken by the SMA regarding the denounced events were technically adequate, as they allowed for the verification of events, the delimitation of responsibilities, and the assurance that risk situations were managed; the reasons cited to justify the dismissal of complaints related to incidents occurring on March 15, 2022, and October 2, 2023, were inconsistent with the nature of the project.

«Consequently, the argument put forth by the Superintendence that it was unnecessary to require the holder to adopt contingency measures due to the project’s formal execution not having started, is, for these judges, insufficient and unreasonable in light of the circumstances of the case, particularly considering the existence of a current RCA that precisely aims at the management and remediation of present environmental risk at the site,» emphasizes the Environmental Court’s resolution.

Finally, the Court rejected other requests from the complainants, specifically those seeking the suspension of work, reverting proceedings to before the approval of the Participatory Monitoring Plan, conducting an audit by an Independent Environmental Auditor, and seeking pronouncements from the SMA and the Independent Environmental Auditor regarding pending complaints not considered, as well as outreach to independent oversight agencies.

The Court consisted of Minister Marcela Godoy Flores, acting president, Minister Cristián López Montecinos, and Minister Pedro Caro Romero from the Santiago Court of Appeals. The ruling was drafted by Minister López.

We will continue to provide updates.

La entrada Second Environmental Court Orders SMA to Process Complaints Related to Las Salinas Remediation Project in Viña del Mar se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.