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Environmental disaster: the community of Puchuncaví and Quintero, an area known as “Chilean Chernobyl“, still waiting for environmental justice for three years, while there was a massive emission of toxins he was in one of the biggest environmental crises which is remembered in the country.
There are still no culprits for this disaster and many of the government’s promises to bring this area to life have not materialized, a bay 100 kilometers from Santiago besieged by an industrial cordon where it operates with chemical elements.
“We are still waiting for justice, three years have passed and we still do not know who it was (…) There was a very big absence of the State”, deplores Carlos Vega, fisherman and environmental activist of this zoned. , where more than 1,700 people were poisoned, including more than 1,500 children.
It was about massive environmental pollution events, which took place between August and September 2018 and they also forced industrial activity to be paralyzed and school classes suspended for a few weeks.
There was headache, fainting, or vomiting are some of the symptoms that presented intoxicated people and there is always fear of new illnesses that can lead to long-term exposure to chemicals, as well as cognitive damage.
The prosecution is investigating six leaders of the National Petroleum Company (Enap), although according to experts It is difficult to determine a culprit given that this industrial hub contains 15 petrochemical, fishing and mining plants. and other sectors.
Eradicate logging areas
In 2019, at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera apologized for the situation in Quintero and Puchuncaví and assured that he would take measures to eradicate the five “sacrifice zones” , areas with a high industrial concentration. towards populated areas, which the country has been dragging for years.
Its stronghold was a decontamination plan that limits emissions from three large companies in these two locations (state-owned Codelco, Enap, and the power company AES Gener), to which was added a rule that regulates emissions. sulfur dioxide (SO2) schedules.
Between the two actions, it was possible to reduce the saturation episodes of this gas from 108 in 2016 to 9 in 2020 and to lower its concentrations by 85%, according to official data.
At the same time, Piñera announced a series of measures such as cleaning up the coastline or creating a drinking water network so that “people do not eat water containing arsenic” (linked to the high levels of cancer in the area).
However, environmentalist Rodrigo Mundaca, governor of the region of Valparaíso (where these towns are located), told Efe that these latest measures have not yet been followed.
“The government continues to favor industrial activity over communities, which is why they are called ‘sacrifice zones’, because there are people likely to be sacrificed for the benefit of development,” he said. lamented.
According to the same source, other announcements such as the construction of a cancer center and two new health centers or a plan to analyze the impact on health of pollutants have not been made either.
Piñera also announced the early shutdown of four coal-fired power plants by 2025, including two located in the Puchuncaví area, as part of a government plan to shut down all coal-fired power plants by 2040.
Decontamination plan called into question
Regional Environment Secretary Victoria Gazmuri told Efe that “there is no doubt a lot to do” but the results indicate that it is “in the right direction”.
Meanwhile, activists and experts stress that government measures are “insufficient” especially as Chilean regulations on polluting gases have more permissive standards than those of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Manuel Leiva, a pollution specialist at the University of Chile, told Efe that the protocol only considers the emission of particles, SO2 and nitrogen oxides (NOX), “excluding many others. harmful pollutants “.
“In general, all the commitments for the management of the sacrificial areas have been minimal, palliative and decorative measures,” said Ricardo Celis, chairman of the environment commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
Greenpeace Chile’s policy director, Josefina Correa, told Efe that the situation in Puchuncaví and Quintero responds to an extractivist model that is being replicated across the country with logging and mining companies.
“It is a failed system,” he said, “which promised people a development that never came and which only caused a violation of their rights to live with dignity. “.
Efe, Afp, Youtube.
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