Chile Scraps Dam Project in 'Greatest Triumph of the Nation's Environmental Movement'

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/06/13-2



Campaigners at one of the rivers that would have been affected by the HidroAysen project. Middle banner reads: Patagonia without dams.

Chile Scraps Dam Project in 'Greatest Triumph of the Nation's Environmental Movement'
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Friday, June 13, 2014 by Common Dreams

In a decision hailed as "the greatest triumph of the environmental movement" in the country, Chile on Tuesday rejected a controversial dam project.

The HidroAysén project in the seismically active area would have included five dams on two rivers in Patagonia—the Baker and Pascua—and, according to International Rivers, would have resulted in the flooding of "nearly 15,000 acres of globally rare forest ecosystems and some of the most productive agricultural land in the area," impacting wildlife and forcing the displacement of people.

The nation's top administrative authority, the Council of Ministers, unanimously overturned the environmental permits issued in 2011 for the dams.

"A decision was taken to accept the community appeals and void the Environmental Qualification Resolution that approved HidroAysén; so the project is declared rejected by this administrative act," the Wall Street Journal quoted Environment Minister Paul Badenier as saying.