Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Another Controversial Project on the Uruguay River

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BUENOS AIRES, Jul 26 2010 (IPS) - Residents of Concepción, in the eastern Argentine province of Entre Ríos, have denounced the start of infrastructure construction on the Uruguay River without the approval of the bilateral commission that oversees this border river. The project is a bridge between a municipal beach in Concepción and the Isla del Puerto, a protected natural area in the river shared with Uruguay. Forest has already been cleared near the shore.

Jorge Villarreal, of the Concepción Citizen Environmental Assembly, told Tierramérica that environmental authorities had already rejected the project, saying it had to be reformulated.

Argentina and Uruguay were already caught up in a row about the location of a paper pulp plant on the Uruguayan side of the river. According to Argentina, for that plan Montevideo had to obtain express authorization from the binational Uruguay River Administrative Commission.