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dam-l CONAMA LOWERS RALCO REQUIREMENTS (fwd)



Forwarded message:
From owner-irn-biobio@igc.org Wed Sep 24 15:38:07 1997
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 11:21:39 -0700
From: aleta@irn.org (Aleta Brown)
Subject: CONAMA LOWERS RALCO REQUIREMENTS

>September 24, 1997
>*
>HEADLINE:  CONAMA LOWERS RALCO REQUIREMENTS

>SOURCE:  EL MERCURIO
>SOURCE:  LA TERCERA
>TEXT:  The Ministers' Council of the National Environmental
>Commission (Conama) ruled Tuesday to reduce the environmental
>demands on power company Endesa's Ralco hydroelectric project.
>        Ralco continues to stir controversy.  Endesa says the US$463-
>million, 581-MW power station, to be built on the Upper Bio Bio
>River in Region VIII, is necessary to meet growing energy needs in
>the Central Interconnected System (SIC) and is environmentally
>sound.  Indigenous people and environmental groups and experts, as
>well as many pro-environment deputies, say the Ralco project will
>irreparably damage some 70 kilometers of the river ecosystem and
>4,000 hectares of natural resources.  The dam will also flood the
>lands of 78 Pehuenche families and force them to relocate to a
>territory many say is unfit.
>        Because of the effects on the Pehuenche, the Indigenous Law
>requires that the National Indigenous Development Commission
>(Conadi) approve the project also, which it has yet to do.
>        Conama approved the project in early June, with several
>stipulations, including the creation of a 3,800 biological reserve.
>Endesa filed an administrative complaint on July 11, alleging that
>Conama's demands were excessive and that the body had
>overstepped its authority.
>        Former Conama Director Vivianne Blanlot left less than two
>weeks later, claiming personal reasons, although informed sources
>said President Frei pushed her out partly because she was not as
>supportive of Ralco as he would like.  The current director is Rodrigo
>Egana.
>        The council altered its requirements in 10 points.  It lowered
>the biological reserve from 3,800 hectares to 1,700.  Egana said the
>reason was that the original demands required Endesa to repair the
>same lands twice.  The company will compensate for the difference
>in land mass via the US$20 million relocation plan it is providing for
>the Pehuenche, he said.
>        Conama had also required a minimum river flow of 39.3 m3
>per second, arguing that the 12.2 m3 per second proposed by Endesa
>was insufficient to assure the survival of the Bio Bio's aquatic flora
>and fauna.  Tuesday's ruling lowered the requirement to 27.1 m3 per
>second, the figure which the General Waters Directorate uses as a
>minimum to maintain a river, and, according to Egana, the only
>objective figure available.  The required river flow has a direct
>impact on the cost of energy production, although the council denied
>that their decision was based on economic criteria.
>        The environmental authority also slackened its demand that
>Endesa must contract public services to carry out an environmental
>audit of the area.  Instead, the company will be allowed to carry out
>the audit.
>        The council also agreed to exempt Endesa from the following
>requirements, among others:  care of the water pools which will form
>around the river bed; protective areas for fish; safeguards for the
>slopes along the roads which must be constructed for the dam; care
>for the habitat of the lake in the dam; protection of birds from the
>impacts of power lines; and monitoring of sediment retention.
>        Conama maintained several obligations, including that the
>company extend its relocation plan for 10 years, that it rescue and
>protect monuments and sites of archaeological value, and that it
>relocate and mark the land animals which will be flooded out by the
>dam.
>        In related news, a report from the Planning and Cooperation
>Ministry (Mideplan) released Monday says that 42 of the 78
>Pehuenche families to be relocated are opposed to doing so.
>Mideplan surveyed 68 of the families, of which 26 accept relocation.
>The ministry was unable to survey the other 10.

>--  ENERSIS ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT PLAN THROUGH 1999.
>Chilean conglomerate Enersis announced it will invest US$3 billion
>for 1997-1999.  To finance this investment plan the company plans
>to issue ADRs and bonds in the local market.  The revenue from these
>operations will go to Enersis subsidiaries Chilectra, which will receive
>US$250 million; Aguas Cordillera, US$80 million; and Endesa Chile,
>US$1 billion.


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Aleta Brown
Campaign Associate
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703 USA
Phone: 1.510.848.1155
Fax: 1.510.848.1008
email: aleta@irn.org