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DAM-L LS: Medical Association Questions Alumysa Project (fwd)
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Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 12:59:36 -0800
To: irn-biobio@netvista.net
From: Monti Aguirre <monti@irn.org>
Subject: LS: Medical Association Questions Alumysa Project
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CHIP NEWS
Nov. 20, 2001
-- MEDICAL ASSOCIATION QUESTIONS ALUMYSA PROJECT. The
Medical Association of Chile released a report on the effects
of the controversial Alumysa aluminum plant project to be built
in southern Region XI Aysen. The study, which delivered a
negative assessment on Alumysa, was undertaken at the behest of
the Health Ministry's regional secretariat.
Andrei Tchernitchin, president of the Health and
Environment Committee of the Medical Association, led the
inquiry based on the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) delivered
to the authorities by the Canadian company Noranda, responsible
for the initiative.
According to Tchernitchin, "it's incredible that a mineral
that's produced in other countries is processed in Chile. Why
isn't this done where the mineral is produced? This means that
the polluting residues that aluminum and its processing has
will remain here while the cleaned metal will be taken
somewhere else. This is the same as importing toxic waste in a
disguised manner by creating jobs ... They will use southern
Chile's water, some of the purest in the world and which could
be the source for much wealth and destroy it to benefit the
company," the expert said.
The Alumysa plant will have a capacity of approximately
440,000 tons of aluminum per year and demand an investment of
nearly US$2.7 billion. The project includes the construction of
three hydroelectric plants. Noranda filed in August an EIA for
the project before the National Environmental Commission
(Conama.)
Fluor, aluminum, and petcoke are some of the polluting
elements which according to the report are part of the project
and involve a health cost which no one will be able to assume.
"This is a health risk any way you cut it," Tchernitchin
said, claiming Noranda's initiatives to mitigate the project's
effects weren't enough.
Among the effects that the report forecasts, figure the
increase in sulfates and sulfuric anhydrates (SO2,) which
provokes acid rain and its consequent damage to agriculture and
vegetation.
The report also warns about the method for reducing
aluminum, especially when recycling cathodes, which may
liberate potentially carcinogenic elements.
Tchernitchin stated that these effects wouldn't only
affect the community but also the flora and fauna of the
region.
"Studies on aluminum reducing plants in Norway state that
the third part of Alumysa's fluoride gas estimated emissions
already damage the vegetation," the expert added.
Noranda still has to secure the participation of one or
more investment partners and, finally, the company's board of
directors will need to approve a revised feasibility study that
incorporates the latest economic and operational data.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Monti Aguirre
Latin American Campaigns
International Rivers Network
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