Valparaíso Chile
A group of residents and organizations from the municipalities of Puchuncaví and Quintero, coordinated by the Environmental Defense organization, filed 12 actions for the protection of constitutional guarantees due to the violation of the rights to life, health, and an environment free from pollution. Four of the actions were filed against various companies operating in the sacrifice zone of the Ventanas Industrial Complex for the generation of gases and chemical compounds that caused mass poisoning in the area. The other eight were filed against various state agencies—including local governments, environmental institutions, and the ministries of health, environment, and the interior—for their responsibility in failing to take measures to prevent the risk to which the population was exposed, and for their lack of action once the damage had occurred.
The Supreme Court of Chile heard the appeals for protection against the State and issued a ruling, in which it recognized that the defendant companies lack the necessary measures to prevent environmental pollution and, in that sense, ordered the administrative authorities of the different levels of government to carry out a series of measures to identify and determine the nature and precise characteristics of the gases, elements and compounds produced by all current sources in the bay, and to apply measures to reduce emissions to acceptable levels, considering the possibility of reforming the current emission and quality standards, in addition to the application of other environmental management instruments and powers, such as the review of the environmental qualification resolutions of the various companies that make up the industrial complex.
The health authority was ordered to adopt the necessary measures to protect the health of the affected population, including diagnosing the illnesses and pathologies that have resulted from air, soil, and water contamination, and implementing a monitoring mechanism. It was also ordered to design and implement an emergency plan to address contingency situations, such as mass poisoning resulting from the constitutional actions.
Implementation
The actions of the State have not been sufficient to reduce pollution in the area and to protect the health of the affected population.
To date, there is no certainty about the causes of the 2018 mass poisoning, and the nature and characteristics of the gases, elements, and compounds produced by all sources in the bay have not been identified or determined, as established by the ruling.
Pollution standards are periodically exceeded, and episodes of pollution and coal spills occur on the coast.
Although the lawsuit and the ruling did not specifically address climate change, the case's relevance must be considered, as it concerns activities carried out at the Ventanas Industrial Complex, including coal- and oil-fired power plants, a copper smelter and refinery, cement production, gas storage, chemical processing, and the unloading of oil, coal, and copper concentrate, among other activities. Each of these activities generates emissions that affect air quality and human health, and they are also significant sources of greenhouse gases and compounds responsible for climate change.
- Protection action with roll number 7266-2018: Senator Francisco Chahuán, on behalf of the affected community.
- Protection action with roll number 7412-2018: I. Municipality of Quintero for the affected community.
- Protection action with roll number 7468-2018: Maria Rossinelli, for herself and her minor children.
- Protection action with roll number 7469-2018: Ruth Vaccaro, for herself and for her minor children.
- Protection action with roll number 7475-2018: I. Municipality of Puchuncaví on its own behalf (mayor) and on behalf of the affected community.
- Protection action with roll number 7837-2018: A group of natural persons.
- Protection action with roll number 8030-2018: National Institute of Human Rights; representing natural persons.
- Protection action with roll number 8036-2018: Children's Ombudsman, representing affected children and adolescents.
- Protection action with roll number 8061-2018: A group of natural persons.
- Protection action with roll number 8127-2018: Horcón and Ventanas Fishermen's Union, Women in Sacrifice Zone in Resistance Group and S24 Fishermen's Union.
- Protection action with roll number 8132-2018: Environmental Justice Clinic Diego Portales University, representing an affected family.
- Protection action with roll number 8223-2018: Fima Organization, on its own behalf and on behalf of environmental organizations.
- Companies: ENAP Refinerías SA; Enel Generación Chile SA; Copec SA; Epoxa SA; GNL Quintero SA; Oxiquim SA; Gasmar SA; Codelco Chile División Ventanas; Cementos Bío Bío SA; Puerto Ventanas SA; Aes Gener SA; and Asfaltos Chilenos SA
- Authorities: State of Chile; Ministry of the Environment; Ministry of Health; Superintendency of the Environment; Regional Directorate of the National Emergency Office of the Fifth Region and others.
The Ventanas sacrifice zone is located in the Quintero-Puchuncaví Bay, 160 kilometers north of the capital, Santiago. Currently, 17 companies operate in the Ventanas industrial belt, where 50,000 people live. These industries include an oil refinery that produces, stores, and distributes fuel; a copper smelter and concentrate refinery that also produces sulfuric acid; three coal-fired power plants; a terminal where various materials are unloaded and stored for later distribution (including propane, sulfuric acid, chemicals, and fuels); and a cement plant, among others.
There have been at least three major oil spills at sea, 10 mass poisonings of people, mostly children, and coal spills on the beach occur almost daily. Today, the local population suffers from high rates of premature death and cancer, as well as miscarriages and cognitive impairment in children, among other problems.
Standards
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
- International Convention on Civil Liability and Damage Caused by Pollution of the Sea and Oil.
- Political Constitution of Chile
- Law 19.300, on General Bases of the Environment
- Health Code
- Decree with force of law (DFL) No. 1 of 2005, of the Ministry of Health
Beginning:
- Caution
- Prevention
- Sustainable development
- Environmental Justice