[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

dam-l LS: Courts Order Suspension of Ralco Construction



***
CHIP NEWS
***
Date: September 9, 1999
Subject: Courts Order Suspension of Ralco Construction
Source: El Mercurio, La Tercera
***

        --  COURTS ORDER SUSPENSION OF RALCO CONSTRUCTION.  In
an unprecedented verdict, the Sixth Santiago Civil Claims Court
Wednesday ordered an indefinite halt to the construction of the
controversial Ralco hydroelectric dam project in southern Region
VIII as a precautionary measure until a request for the invalidation
of an environmental impact study can be resolved.
        The Ralco project, which envisages the flooding of some 3,400
hectares of land bordering the upper Bio Bio river, is being
developed by national energy giant Endesa, majority-owned by
electricity-sector holding firm Enersis.
But the project has run into stiff opposition from
environmentalists and Pehuenche indigenous landowners who refuse
to accept relocation packages offered by the energy firm.  Two such
opponents of the project are the Pehuenche sisters Nicolasa and Berta
Quintreman, who in 1997 brought the legal action against Endesa and
the National Environmental Commission, Conama, over the
environmental viability of the Ralco project which resulted in
Wednesday's ruling.
Sources close to Endesa have indicated the company's aim was
to have completed as much work as possible on the project before
the courts intervened so that, were the Pehuenches to continue their
legal battle, the energy firm could argue that not only would the
project benefit the whole country's energy needs, but it would also
be irrational to halt the already well-advanced works.
The ruling looks set to be appealed by Endesa.
***


Monti Aguirre
Latin American Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, Ca. 94703
***
Tel: 510 . 848.11.55 and/or
707 . 591.91.49
Fax: 510 . 848.1008
monti@irn.org
//www.irn.org