El Ciudadano
Original article: Segundo Tribunal Ambiental decide el futuro del controvertido proyecto Los Bronces Integrado
Second Environmental Court to Decide the Future of Controversial Los Bronces Integrated Project
In a hearing scheduled for August 13, the Second Environmental Court will review appeals filed by various individuals and organizations against the Los Bronces Integrated mining project, operated by the multinational AngloAmerican, which extends its operation until 2036.
This initiative, currently in progress, expands operations in the Metropolitan and Valparaíso regions. Although the Environmental Evaluation Service initially rejected the project, the Ministerial Committee later overturned the decision in favor of approval.
This situation raises ongoing questions regarding the evaluating authority and its operational procedures.
Notably, even employees of the Environmental Evaluation Service have publicly expressed concerns, stating that the environmental impact assessments often undergo an artificial extension “due to decisions imposed purely by hierarchy from authorities influenced by governmental political pressure” rather than by the technical criteria that should guide the service’s actions.
According to Cristóbal Rodríguez, national spokesperson for Modatima, this project “should have been rejected due to its technical inconsistencies and the evident risks to public health in the two most populated regions of the country,” adding, “We trust that the technical evidence presented to the court is more than sufficient to halt an expansion that significantly threatens current and future generations.”
It is important to highlight that during the final phase of the environmental evaluation for Los Bronces Integrated, the Undersecretariat of Public Health concluded that the technical data indicated the project would cause a significant increase in particulate matter (PM-10), posing a health risk to the population in the project’s area of influence.
In the words of Karla Vargas, attorney for NGO FIMA, the case of Los Bronces Integrated reveals “a systematic pattern of technical deficiencies that were never effectively corrected during the evaluation process, issues arising from the arbitrary determination of the area of influence, a substandard baseline, and an air quality modeling that lacks technical justification, resulting in insufficient mitigation and compensation measures.”
In the Valparaíso Region, the project’s expansion has not been free of controversies. The initiative, which involves an investment of $3.2 billion, has been monitored by the General Water Directorate (DGA) due to unauthorized extraction of this resource from one of the main tributaries of the Aconcagua River.
It is crucial to mention that the Aconcagua River supplies approximately 60% of the drinking water for the main cities in the region, raising concerns about the impact that these interventions could have on water availability and supply security for the population.
In this context, Rocío Valdés from Modatima Valparaíso emphasizes: “The water from the Aconcagua River not only irrigates the fields that grow our food but also supplies water to communities from Los Andes to Concón and refills the Los Aromos Reservoir, which provides water for Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. If the water upstream is contaminated, the health of a large part of the region is at risk.”
Both Rodríguez and Valdés do not rule out organizing public protests and gatherings before the hearing at the Second Environmental Court, given the significance it holds for water availability in the major urban centers of the Valparaíso region and the potential impacts on millions of people in the two most populated regions of our country.
El Ciudadano
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