The New York Times reports, “A Chilean appeals court on Monday suspended a plan to build five dams and hydroelectric plants in the country’s Patagonia region. The court ruling came in response to actions filed by environmental groups and legislators arguing that the government commission that approved the $3.2 billion dam project last month had not taken into account a technical review. The ruling temporarily halts the government’s approval process for the project, which set off large protests around the country in recent weeks. Opponents applauded the ruling, hoping it was a step toward scuttling it altogether.”
While the BBC reports, “The court has now ruled it needs to review the approval process. It is not clear how long the court will take to decide on the matter,” Agence France Presse says, “Local press reports said it could take several months or even up to a year for the project to be reevaluated.”
AFP also notes, “If the next legal step does not go in their favor, then opponents will take it to the Supreme Court or even the International Court of Human Rights, said opposition Senator Guido Girardi who has helped fight the issue in the courts.”
The Santiago Times had reported earlier, “Public rejection (is expected) to grow even stronger once the location of the project’s 2,300 kilometre transmission line is made public in July.” The Guardian reported, “Environmentalists predict more damage (from) transmission lines, which face a separate environmental review in December.” Notably, Transelec – the Chilean company that would most likely build the transmission line, which requires an 80-metre wide logged corridor through 14 national parks, nature reserves and conservation areas – is controlled by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. The Council of Canadians is demanding that these Canadian pension funds reject the deeply unpopular HidroAysén project.
Perhaps as a result of the public pressure, the New York Times now reports, “The path of the transmission lines has not yet been set, but it will not be a straight line, explains HidroAysen’s executive director, Daniel Fernandez, adding parts of the line will be underwater to avoid national parks and scenic areas.”
For Council of Canadians blogs on the HidroAysen project, please go to http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?s=patagonia.
