MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina accuses Uruguay of “irreversible damage” to the ecosystem

Argentine delegate Susana Ruiz Cerutti

Argentina told the International Court of Justice Monday that Uruguayan pollution of a border river was a grave infringement of Argentinean rights. Argentina and Uruguay have been wrangling for years over a giant pulp mill sited on the Uruguay River, which divides the two South American nations.

“Uruguay has imposed harm on the river in the past and will in the future by the continued discharge of toxic substances” Argentina's lawyer told the 15-judge tribunal in The Hague. “These cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem of the river”, said Argentina’s delegate Susana Ruiz-Cerrutti.

The Botnia pulp mill is “a flagrant violation by Uruguay of its responsibilities with the 1975 River Uruguay statute”, agreed by both sides to protect the environment and fluvial resources and which demands a standing consulting process, insisted the Argentine delegate during the first day of public hearings.

Uruguay has repeatedly stated that the Argentine government was informed all along of the process for the construction of the 1.2 billion US dollars investment, and that independent surveys indicate no harm to the ecosystem or changes since the plant was first built.

The Botnia plant was also built following the latest European Union environmental impact conditions, and no polluting accidents or damages have occurred since the pulp mill has been in full production. Uruguay has also defended the pulp mill's construction saying it provides jobs and boosts the local economy.

“We listened. We will respond. Next week will be our turn” said Carlos Mora Medero, Uruguay's ambassador to the Netherlands.

In a lawsuit lodged in 2006 with the ICJ, the court must decide whether Uruguay breached the 1975 bilateral which says all issues regarding the Uruguay River ecosystem must be addressed following consultations and agreement by both countries.

The site of the mill, directly across the river from the Argentine city of Gualeguaychu, has soured relations.

Susana Ruiz Cerutti, legal adviser to Argentina's Foreign Ministry, said in the 20 months since the mill started operations, 44 million cubic metres of toxic effluent have been released into the river at a spot used for fishing, leisure and tourism. She also said that sulphur derivates from the mill repeatedly generate “unsupportable odours” with health risks for the residents on the Argentine side of the river.

Argentina said it was not opposed to Uruguay operating the mill, but questioned the choice of its location. In July 2006, the ICJ provisionally ruled Uruguay did not have to suspend building the mills as there were insufficient grounds to merit such a decision.

Argentina had wanted a temporary halt while it considered if the building violated the 1975 treaty.

In January 2007, the court issued another provisional ruling, this time against a Uruguayan request to force Argentina to remove blockades set up by Argentine environmental protestors on roads between the neighbouring states. Uruguay had argued the blockades were strangling its economy and would cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.

The ICJ is holding 10 days of oral hearings this month and next and a final ruling is expected in 2010.

The Botnia dispute issue has also been mentioned in the Uruguayan presidential election. Uruguay is less than two months away from voting day and although the government has the full support of the political establishment and population regarding the dispute, normal relations with neighbouring Argentina are crucial for Uruguay.

The incumbent candidate Jose Mujica was philosophical about the issue saying he’d rather not talk about the conflict, since he was recently in Buenos Aires to ask President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to give Uruguayan residents a two day off so they can cross the River Plate and vote at the end of October.

Nevertheless he said “thank goodness it’s the Finns from Botnia who are looking after the environment. If the task was in the hands of Uruguayans or Argentines poor environment, God save us. The Finns are serious people; they are making a lot of money in Fray Bentos so they won’t spoil a brilliant business by doing stupid things. They are more intelligent than us”, underlined Mujica.