MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean controversial Patagonia mega-dam project to be appealed at Supreme Court

Patricio Rodrigo, the executive secretary of Patagonia Sin Represas

A Chilean appeals court in Puerto Montt voted 3 to 1 to reject seven lawsuits brought against the proposed controversial HidroAysén hydroelectric mega-dam approved by the Chilean government on May 9 of this year.

The lawsuits questioned the legality of the environmental review process conducted by the government, citing procedural irregularities and alleged conflicts of interest.

As soon as the latest ruling was made public, Patagonia Sin Represas, a citizen’s group opposed to the project, said that the Puerto Montt appeals court decision will now be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The now 10 billion dollars project is a joint venture between Chilean energy company Colbún and the majority Spanish owned Endesa energy company, a part of Enel. HidroAysén would install five dams on two of Chile’s largest rivers, the Baker and Pascua rivers in southern Region XI known as Aysén.

The project also includes, as a separate entity, 1.243 miles of transmission lines to carry the energy generated by the dams to central and northern Chile.

HidroAysén is the largest dam project ever proposed in Chile.

Proponents say it is critical for meeting the nation’s future energy needs, while critics say it is a dinosaur, completely unnecessary and designed to consolidate 85% of the Chilean central grid energy production into the hands of the two companies.

They add that the environmental impact would be tremendous - flooding virgin forests, endangering the survival of the huemul deer (Chile’s national emblem), and creating a 1,243 mile scar the length of the country.

The appeal process began on June 20 when the Puerto Montt appeals court accepted seven petitions challenging the government’s approval of the dam construction and issued an injunction to stop all work on the project.

The dissenting vote in the 2 to 1 decision was cast by Judge Hernán Cristoso. Cristoso told El Mercurio that “parts of the project violated the guarantees of the right to life and physical integrity, as well as equality before the law, and the right to live in a pollution-free environment.”

“The Regional Environmental Commission at the time should have ordered an immediate Consolidated Evaluation Report (ICE), rejecting the project, so that a new proposal could be submitted that followed environmental regulations and protected national parks” Cristoso said.
Although polls show that HidroAysén is rejected by 74% of all Chileans, government officials insist it is necessary to meet the nation’s future energy needs.

Opponents include Senate president Sen. Guido Girardi and conservative regional Sen. Antonio Horvath, who were among the plaintiffs in the lawsuits filed with the Puerto Montt appeals court.

Patricio Rodrigo, the executive secretary of Patagonia Sin Represas, opposed to the project, said Friday that the Puerto Montt appeals court decision will now be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Ecological Action, another environmental group opposed to the project, met with other environmental groups Friday in Plaza Italia, in the centre of Santiago, to show respect for the verdict, but to call for new protests, the first of which scheduled for October 15.

Luis Mariano Rendón, leader of Ecological Action, told La Tercera that ”the citizens are the ones that should decide what happens and what doesn’t happen in Patagonia … a decision must be made by Chile’s people through a plebiscite....we are seeing a great crisis in our society; we have a political system that has little popular support or legitimacy, and this same political system is not able to resolve the huge problems our country is facing. We believe this is a common denominator of all the social fights now occurring in Chile. It is the demand for institutional changes that will permit citizens to make decisions about their country.”

The government’s green lighting of the dam project last May caused a huge uproar among citizen and environmental groups, leading to many large protests that helped set the stage for the current protests against Chile’s educational system led by students.

By Anna Pope – The Santiago Times