Representatives of environmental organizations and coastal communities in the South of Chile, threatened by the construction of a pipeline to resolve the conflict of Celco, denounced a strategy agreed between the company and the Government aimed to open the pulp plant to trial of Marcel Claude, executive director of the environmental group Oceana, the visit of President Lagos last week to Valdiviaimmediately after which made the President of Celco, Alberto Etchegaray, was the icing on the cake prepared by the Government to reopen the plant. Therefore, to announce that from today, Lagos is responsible politician everything what happens with the community of Valdivia, thing that we’ll enforce in all areas that corresponds. Marcel Claude indicated a zero pollutant emission technology was perfectly feasible from the profitability of the company and the technology available, but it is clear that Celulosa Arauco does what you want. We reaffirm and continue with our demand for the closure of the plant until it stops polluting, since the authorities do their work. Alfredo Seguel, coordination of territorial identities, announced that will continue the mobilizations in the coastal zone and that they will not, under any circumstances, Celulosa Arauco vent reaches the sea. Environmental leaders, grouped with Greenpeace, reborn and others in coordination Santiago, linked with action by the swans, announced that social demonstrations against the decision, as well as a battery of legal actions at national and international level which will be announced in the coming days will promote.
On the other hand, hundred and seventy scholars from the Center for environmental studies and development human sustainable of the Universidad Austral de Chile (CEAM-UACH), deeply regretted the restart of operations of the plant’s cellulose Valdivia of Celco, that counts with the support of the tenth Region Corema and noted via a press release that the environmental authority has decided to give the green light to a new cycle of contamination without appropriate guards. One of the spokesmen for the academics of the University and member of the CEAM institution, Pablo Villarroel, pointed out that the environmental public perspective closes an unfortunate cycle. Citing part of the document, he stressed that the scientific research that lasted 5 months and carried out by prominent Chilean specialists teaching and research at the UACH sets, leaving no doubt scientific, that there have been significant changes in the water quality of river crossings as a result of the industrial activity of the enterprise CELCO, study that has been discredited by Celco in all instances, according to Villarroel. University researcher for the environmental authority has made the decisions for which should consider the conclusions of the scientific study and the precautionary principle. When there is suspicion or suggestive evidence of environmental contamination that affects biodiversity severely must first stop the source of contamination and then investigate and take long-term measures.