Ecobreves – CHILE: Campaign for Communities Blighted by Pollution

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Apr 30 2012 (IPS) - The Chilean environmental organization Oceana has launched a campaign to support the communities of Ventanas and Puchuncaví, which face severe impacts from the pollution created by a nearby copper foundry and three coal-fired thermoelectric power plants. The communities are located 180 km northwest of Santiago in an area that has been declared by Oceana as one of the “sacrificial zones” of Chile, where large numbers of polluting industries are concentrated.

The campaign, which has been joined by Argentine singer/songwriter Pedro Aznar, is aimed at preventing the installation of new thermoelectric plants in “sacrificial zones” and demanding the implementation of effective anti-pollution plans.

“Our country cannot continue tolerating a situation where there are second-class citizens who must bear all of the costs of development, while a very few but very powerful industries earn disproportionately high profits,” Oceana executive director Alex Muñoz told Tierramérica.