Categoría: Casos Anteriores

In 1997 Luksic Group, one of the biggest and more powerful holdings in Chile, owner of Antofagasta Minerals, started a project to expand Los Pelambres mine. With this grow, the three tailings dam that were previously approved by the environmental authorities, would no longer be able to contain the new tailings that the mine would generate.

Therefore they create a project to replace those three small tailing dams for a giant one. Nevertheless, the environmental, social, cultural, patrimonial and politics impacts were not properly considered. To build this giant tailing dam, Los Pelambres bought in 2001 a farm called El Mauro, place of origin of the water slopes that use to fed the Pupio river.

They named the tailing dam as «El Mauro» and it included a contention wall of 240 meters tall, which would close the valley in a point called “The narrowness of El Mauro”, just where the most important water slope of the valley used to born (also all the others remains slopes of water would be buried by the tailings that would be left there). Paradoxically, the Miner Company for decrease the damage, proposed built a “water tail dam”1 which would be feeding by rain water captured by perimeter canals. In others words, they offered to replace a renewable aquifer of 10.000.000 mts3 with a little pond of 600.000 mts3.

As it could be expected, the farmers of the zone, residents and others users of the waters like the “Drink Water Rural’s Committee of Caimanes”, “The Pupio Valley Defense Committee” and the “Fourth Neighbourhood council” were opposed to the project, based in the posibility of their water rights being affected.

But, in 2000 the Intendent (regional representation of the president) of Coquimbo Region pointed that he had a huge interest on the project accomplishment because it would be a great incentive for the development of the region and the Choapa province. At the same time he asked to the public services, which had to give the permissions, to accelerate all the formalities and avoid extra paperwork to the company. By law this authority is the one who preside the Regional Environmental Comission (today is not exactly the same figure, but he/she is still in charge of environmental evaluation).

In June of 2001 the company performed their plan of increase the production of the mine. Despite the claims of civil society, they presented an Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) because they will go from 85.000 daily tons of production to a 114.000 (the DIA process did not consider any kind of public participation).

1 This odd name is due to the position of the water dam, that is behind the tailing dam, and so it’s “in the tail” of the construction.

On april 7th, 2004 “Los Pelambres” received the environmental authorization for the construction of the tailings dam El Mauro, and the enlargement of the useful life of Los Pelambres Mine for 50 more years. This approval didn’t considered most of the observations made by public services, neither those made by the public.

The directive of the environmental authority without any explanations quickly discarded the administrative remedy conducted by the communities. In what regards the public services “sectorial authorizations” the most important was the one given by the General Water Direction (DGA). This agency, going beyond their legal powers and without any consideration of the potential damage to the users of the Pupio River, gave the licence to change the natural affluent of the river (the water slopes), for the perimeter streams and water tail dam.

In an unheard way, the DGA pointed that the tailing dam would not affect the integrity of the others users and neither would pollute the waters. The farmers and others users of the waters once again opposed to the decision, arguing that the build of the tailing dam would affect their water rights, because it would change the natural source and the Company would blind the water slopes of El Mauro, the essential source of the Pupio River. Adding that a lot of rainwater would be loss in the tailing dam itself.

In 2005 the opponents filed an habeas at the Appeal Court of Santiago against the DGA. The authority was accused to disregard the water code and to affect the usage rights of waters. All usage rights of the Pupio River were granted at the time (there was even an excess of rights). Therefore -and as the DGA itself recognised in 2001- it was impossible to give new rights over this river.

On November 3th of 2006, the third room of the Appeal Court of Santiago ruled the habeas in favour of the communities. The decision recognized the claims of the opponents. Nevertheless, and despite the clear statement in favour of the people, the Court didn’t give an order to accomplish the statement (It did not order to stop the construction and/or demolish what was built until that moment). The Court only ordered to the DGA to accomplish with the decision. However, DGA and the Mine Company appealed to the decision to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile the appealing was on process, an irreparable damage to the Pupio River was allowed and accomplished. This was the point that determined the outcome of this episode of the conflict.

After this important judicial setback and in parallel to the appeal process, the Company started a communication strategy to discredit the Court decision, arguing that the instance had no authority to interfere into environmental issues. At the same time, and as pressure measurement, the company clarified that they have intention of stop all the other projects in the region if the Supreme Court ruled against them. Government authorities of high range started demonstrate their support to the project in different ways.

In this new stage, civil society was in an complicated position, as they won at the Court but the Pupio River and the aquifer that was the hard of the river were already being destroying. On December 2006, at the Annual Miner Council Dinner, the president of that Trade Union said, despite there was a pending judicial process, “El Mauro is going to be built”. At that meeting, both the President of Antofagasta Mineral, Jean Paul Lucksic and the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet were present. Moreover, on November 24th of 2006, Lucksic visited La Moneda (the government palace) and was received by the Minister of Interior Belisario Velasco. On the other side, the community of Caimanes send tens of mails requesting for a meeting, but they did not get any answer.

After more than a year and three months of the Court resolution, on march of 2008, the claims Starts at the Supreme Court . On behalf of the company came the lawyers of the law firm Claro and Cia. On behalf of the Caimanes organizations, the lawyers were Fernando Dougnac and Gustavo Manríquez.

The allegations were prolonged during six complete audiences (one per week). On may 2008 the Supreme Court, before ruling called the sides to an audience of agreement. This audience ended whit the company buying the farms Tipay and Romero, as well of the water rights that the owner of those farms, Victor Ugarte, had over the Pupio River. The others claimants received an economic compensation for the further damages that the mine could cause.

The only reason why the claimants agreed to an economic compensation was because the water slopes that gave life to the Pupio River were irreparably blinded, and all the other waterworks were almost finished.