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Last Update: July 16, 2008
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- Paper Pulp Mills - Uruguay
- Corporate Accountability and Human Rights
- Climate Change and Human Rights
Emissions from ENCE and Botnia Pulp Mills to Reach Uruguayan Ramsar Site
Experts believe that currents in the River Uruguay can change direction to flow upstream from Botnia and ENCE’s pulp mill plants, causing contaminants to reach the Uruguayan RAMSAR site of ‘Esteros de Farrapos e Islas del Río Uruguay’, whose most southern point is no more than 10 kilometres away from the ENCE factory, with Botnia’s larger factory located a further 4 kilometres downstream. The RAMSAR protected site consists of an area of 6327 hectares in the province of Río Negro, Uruguay. The Uruguayan government, as members of the convention, has the obligation to protect the wetland area, which is an important breeding site for migratory waterfowl.
The RAMSAR Convention concerns the protection of Wetlands of International Importance, as crucial habitat for aquatic birds, and was created in the city of Ramsar, Iran, on the 2nd of February 1971 coming into force in 1975, coincidentally the same year as the River Uruguay Treaty which imposes international obligations on Argentina and Uruguay concerning the use of the international watercourse. Currently the RAMSAR Convention takes into account more than 100 member states around the world with the goal which centers around protecting wetland ecosystems, and recognizes the fundamental importance of the role played by of these wetlands with respect to global conservation and the sustainability of biodiversity.
Hydrological experts state that River Uruguay can change course such that waters from the La Plata River, a long way downstream from the cellulose plants, can reflux upstream arriving approximately at the town Paysandú the other side of the RAMSAR site, thereby transporting contaminants from the two giant pulp factories to the internationally protected wetlands. In Botnia and ENCE’s Cumulative Impact Study, the most recent study prepared on behalf of the International Finance Corporation to measure environmental impact, has recognised the occurrence of reverse flow river conditions, yet fail to consider this situation one that will cause negative environmental damage. [1]
With respect to the other environmental damage to be caused by the operation of the two pulp mills, the National University of Uruguay has recently published a report which confirms the extent of expected impacts. The study states that the ECF plant emissions contain a series of compounds whose chemical structures are similar to hormones in fish which have been associated with damage to their reproductive and endocrine systems. The report also reveals that the industries at Fray Bentos will require 300 000 hectares of plantation timber within a 200km radius to feed the mills, whereas Uruguay is only able to cultivate timber in an area 44% of that size. [2]
[1] Cumulative Impact Study, Annex D, Water Quality Evaluation of Cumulative Impacts from Proposed Orion and CMB Pulp Mills, p2-1
[2] SÍNTESIS DE LOS EFECTOS AMBIENTALES DE LAS PLANTAS DE CELULOSA Y DEL MODELO FORESTAL EN URUGUAY Informe solicitado por el Consejo de la Facultad de Ciencias (Resolución Nº 78 del 13/03/06) al siguiente grupo de docentes: Daniel Panario, Nestor Mazzeo y Gabriela Eguren (Maestría en Ciencias Ambientales), Claudia Rodríguez y Alice Altesor (Depto. de Ecología), Ricardo Cayssials y Marcel Achkar (Departamento de Geografía).
More Information
For more information contact:
Jorge Daniel Taillant
Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA)
Tel. 54 3541 494 162
Cel. 54 9 351 625 3290
jdtaillant@cedha.org.ar
