Ecobreves – CHILE: Cellulose Plant Construction Halted

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Jan 17 2005 (IPS) - The regional environmental commission, COREMA, of Biobío, in southern Chile, ordered a stop to the construction of the Itata cellulose plant, which was designed for a production volume greater than what was authorized, as environmental groups denounced two months ago. Itata, 480 km south of Santiago, is the property of Celulosa Arauco y Constitución (CELCO), of the Angelini Group, accused of causing a die-off of black-necked swans in the Río Cruces nature sanctuary in the southern province of Valdivia, from contamination caused by another cellulose plant.

The regional governor of Biobío, Jaime Tohá, explained to Tierramérica that CELCO had drastically modified the project proposal the firm had presented to COREMA, increasing its production forecast from 550,000 tons per year to 856,000 tons.