Tag Archive for: Access to Information

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More than 100 organizations are calling on EITI to publish environmental information

On the initiative of the Peruvian organization ‘Law, Environment and Natural Resources’, on February 25, a letter was presented to the Board of Directors for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), demanding the publication of environmental information. More than 100 organizations in Latin America (including FUNDEPS), signed a letter asking the members of this initiative to make transparency in environmental information mandatory.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The EITI standard for transparency in extractive activities, seeks to disseminate information on the oil, gas and mining industry. It requires the publication of information along the value chain of the extractive industry, from the point of extraction, to the way in which revenues continue on their way to the government; even how they benefit the general public. This includes how licenses are adjudicated and registered, who are the actual beneficiaries of those operations, what are the legal and fiscal provisions, how much is produced, how much is paid, how are those revenues distributed, and what is the contribution to the economy, including employment.

It is a multilateral initiative to which governments adhere voluntarily, and ensuring the participation of civil society and companies in the extractive sector.

However, and despite the imprint of this initiative, the standard currently lacks requirements on the obligation to publish information related to the costs and environmental impacts of extractive activity. It is necessary to have information, for example, on the amount of water that a mining project consumes, fines paid by corporations for environmental violations, information on environmental impact assessments, mitigation plans, among others. These data are crucial to avoid irreversible damage to the environment and the violation of the rights of those affected by extractive activity.

During the week of February 25, the EITI Board will meet in Kiev, Ukraine; to review the provisions of the current standard. Civil society organizations in Latin America sent a letter demanding that after the review process new guidelines be incorporated to ensure that:

  • Information is disseminated at the project level, in relation to all social and environmental assessments, showing the true impact of extractive activity on ecosystems and communities.

  • Environmental and social information about payments and expenses is disclosed, including impact studies, acquired rights, licenses, fines, compensations and remediation.
  • Information on all environmental licenses and authorizations, disaggregated by company and project, is disclosed. Including how the authorities monitor environmental commitments and information.


Argentina has officially joined EITI on February 27, 2019. To strengthen the standard with the demands made by civil society, would result in an improvement on the generation and publication of environmental information in our country.

More information

Sitio WEB de EITI

Carta enviada al Directorio de EITI

Environmental Reporting: Key to Transparency

Contact

Agustina Palencia, agustinapalencia@fundeps.org

 

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Report on the human rights situation in Argentina before the IACHR

On October 30, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published a communiqué inviting civil society organizations and other interested social actors of the Organization of American States (OAS) to send information on the situation. of human rights in the region. This information will be used for the preparation of chapter IV A of the annual report of the IACHR corresponding to the year 2018 that will be presented to the General Assembly of the OAS.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Descargar Documento / Download File
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Court filings for contamination in Chacra de la Merced

“A continuación, ofrecemos una versión de traducción de Google del artículo original en español. Esta traducción no es precisa pero sirve como una presentación general del artículo. Para más información, contactar directamente en inglés y/o español a la persona mencionada al final de este artículo con respecto a este tema “

From FUNDEPS we requested the participation as “Friend of the Court” and as private plaintiff in civil and criminal cases, respectively, initiated against a tannery that operated illegally at the height of km. 3 and 1/2 of the Chacra de la Merced road.

The past month of December formally presents an Amicus Curiae in the titled cars “Foundation of Third Generation C / Jolaga SRL – Environmental Protection”, (File 6229513) that is processed before the Civil and Commercial Court and the 45th Nomination of this city, for carry out the legal claims of the Court on the environmental damage caused by the contaminating activity of the JOLAGA tannery establishment SRL and the obligation that it has on it to recompose the environmental damage caused to the Suquía river.

The environmental protection initiated in February 2017 is aimed at the use of the activity developed for the establishment of wounds and the recomposition of the environmental damage caused.

All this is based on the illegal dumping of waste and residues in the Suquía River, on the Chacra de la Merced highway, km 3 1/2, by the establishment of JOLAGA SRL tanneries, owned by Jorge Ricardo Gawuryn and Ariel Gawuryn. , there has been a clear violation of the General Law of the Environment No. 25,675 and the Provincial Environmental Policy Law No. 10,208, which affects the rights of constitutional roots – right to a healthy environment – art. 41 CN -, right to health, right to life, not only of the population of the affected area but also of the entire community of the province of Córdoba.

In addition, due to the illegal and clandestine activity of possession, a criminal proceeding was initiated that culminated with the closure and with the imputation of tango owners JOLAGA SRL, Jorge Ricardo Gawuryn and Ariel Gawuryn, for the crime of continued environmental pollution, as co-authors, in accordance with the provisions of articles 55 of the Hazardous Waste Law 24,051, and 45 and 55 of the Criminal Code.

According to the investigation, the establishment operated almost ten years ago despite the complaining repetitions of the neighbors, throwing polluting substances into an open-air lagoon in the company’s facilities, and then they would have thrown them into an adjoining land, through of a pump drain. All these properties drain, by simple gravity, into the Suquía River.

As a foundation that promotes and encourages the realization of the right to a healthy and balanced environment, we consider that the contamination and environmental damage caused by the holders of privacy is a violation of these rights that we defend. For this reason, it requests the participation of a private prosecutor to promote the process and help the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the criminal investigation.

The neighborhood of Chacra de la Merced is located at the eastern end of the city of Córdoba, about 150 meters from Circunvalación Avenue and 200 meters from the Suquía River. For more than two decades it was part of the green belt of the city of Córdoba, today it has multiple sources of contamination. The worst thing is the Edar Bajo Grande wastewater treatment plant that has been dumping sewage into the Suquía River for years with poor treatment and even without treatment.

Other polluting industries are also sought, among them, such as JOLAGA SRL, quarries, lagoons produced by the extraction of aggregates converted into open air dumps, among others.

In this context almost 300 families live and the area has been declared in recent years in “environmental emergency” by the Municipality of Córdoba. However, there is no final non-compliance with the measures and actions provided, leaving the neighborhood forgotten in a “pollution river”.

In order to protect the fundamental rights of the residents of the neighborhood, a change of attitude was proposed to avoid impunity and the secrecy of this type of polluting activity. the mercy.

Source of images

La Voz del Interior

More Inforamtion

– Investigan contaminación con un carcinógeno en las cercanías de Suquía,  La Voz del Interior

–  Amicus curiae en causa “Fundación de Tercera Generación C / Jolaga SRL – Protección Ambiental”

– Demandante privado en causa “Acciones talladas arrojaron contaminantes cerca del río Suquía”

Contact

María Pérez Alsina – mariaperezalsina@fundeps.org