MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina mounts strict environmental monitoring of Botnia

Argentina next month begins strict environmental monitoring of the Botnia-Orion pulp mill built next to the River Uruguay and which is at the heart of a serious legal and diplomatic dispute between Argentina and neighboring Uruguay.

The initiative has become the essence of Argentina's strategy in the long dispute over the construction of the Finnish pulp mill in Uruguay, --which it could not prevent--, but has promised to monitor for any transgression of environmental conditions. The strategy has been awarded 1.5 million US dollars and is fully supported by the outgoing and incoming Argentine administrations. The main purpose is to collect all possible data to support the 2006 demand presented by Argentina against Uruguay before the International Court of The Hague for alleged abuse of a 1975 Rive Uruguay joint management agreement. The Court is expected to make a ruling sometime at the end of next year or early 2009. The monitoring includes waters of the River Uruguay, air and atmosphere, and will be coordinated by Argentina's Environment Secretary with the support of the Fluvial Guard, several universities, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Meteorological Office plus the Health Department from the province of Entre Rios and the local government of the city of Gualeguaychú. Gualeguaychú, in Entre Rios province is just across from Fray Bentos the Uruguayan city next to which the pulp mill has recently begun production. The two sides are linked by a bridge that has been blocked by pickets on the Argentine side protesting alleged environmental hazards from the Botnia plant. The monitoring operation will record "monthly biogeochemical, biological and air quality variations" which will give a clearer picture of the river's ecosystem and surrounding areas. Actually Argentina begun a simpler monitoring in early 2006 when the dispute escalated and this should help establish any positive or negative changes. "People should not be surprised to see fixed and mobile monitoring stations all along the basin, plus buoys, echo sounds and small vessels taking samples of the water, fishes, river bed, water dynamics, it's going to be quite an operation", said Romeo Juarez a biologist responsible for coordinating fluvial operations. "This will help residents to know when ecosystem conditions have changed or are in the process of, plus giving us additional arguments for the legal case". Meantime on the other side of the river this weekend the Botnia plant completed the second 1.000 tons pulp shipment which was loaded on to a barge and transported down river to Nueva Palmira, a high seas port next to the River Plate main access channel. "Production has stabilized with no mishaps", said on Sunday Sami Saarela plant manager of Botnia. Saarela added that daily production is reaching the 2.000 tons as programmed plus the generation of 6 MWH of electricity. Next Tuesday a barge is scheduled to be loaded with 3,500 tons of pulp.