Buenos Aires Argentina
The Self-Convened Environmentalists Organization filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Mercedes against Araucaria Energy SA for preventative environmental damage related to the construction, installation, and/or operation of the Luján II Thermoelectric Power Plant. The lawsuit requests the immediate cessation of construction and power generation activities at the plant until a sustainable electricity generation system is designed or the plant's location is changed. The lawsuit also requests that the defendant and the authorities involved in the bidding and/or authorization process relocate the power plant to a suitable area and order the dismantling of the turbogenerator units and all their ancillary installations, restoring the affected area to its original state. Finally, the cessation of current environmental damage was requested, as well as the prevention of collective environmental damage (to fauna, flora, watercourses, groundwater, air, landscape, etc.). Damage to the health of the residents was also noted, as well as the right to a healthy and balanced environment and to sustainable development.
In September 2018, the Federal Court of Mercedes dismissed the lawsuit, determining that there was no evidence to demonstrate a real risk of harm occurring, or of harm already incurred being aggravated, since the defendant company lacked the necessary municipal permits to operate and had not complied with the requirements established by the relevant authorities for carrying out the work. In other words, the alleged harm was hypothetical, and therefore the lawsuit was dismissed for lack of merit.
In October 2018, an appeal was filed against the aforementioned judgment, arguing that it caused irreparable harm. In the Statement of Grievances, the plaintiff requested the reversal of the appealed judgment, deeming it arbitrary and unlawful; that it disregarded the guarantee contained in Article 41 of the National Constitution; violated the guarantee contained in Article 18 of the same Constitution; failed to comply with Articles 8 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights; and violated the minimum public order requirement of Article 32 of the General Environmental Law. The plaintiff further argued that it disregarded the precautionary and preventive principles of Article 4 of the same law and failed to apply Article 11 of the General Environmental Law. Additionally, the plaintiff requested that the requested precautionary measure be granted due to the urgency and nature of the allegedly violated collective rights.
On December 21, 2018, the Chamber issued an Interlocutory Judgment ordering the Municipality of Luján to inform the Court whether the request for authorization of the Luján II Thermal Power Plant, belonging to ARAUCARIA ENERGY SA, was being processed before the municipality and, if so, what its status was.
It was rejected in May 2019 by the Federal Chamber of San Martín, which confirmed the sentence of the Mercedes Court based on the same argument, which dismissed the preventive action for damage promoted against ARAUCARIA ENERGY SA, due to the non-existence of a “case” or “cause”.
On May 24, 2019, the Federal Court of Appeals of San Martín upheld the ruling. The orders do not expressly address the impacts or the climate-related causes. The dismissal was appealed to the Supreme Court. In 2020, an appeal was filed with the Supreme Court.
On August 14, 2019, a Complaint Appeal was filed with the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation - Secretariat of Environmental Trials.
In September 2019, within that framework, the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation -FARN - presented itself as Amicus Curiae before the Court.
Finally, in December 2020, it was requested that the proceedings be sent to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, where they are currently located.
Furthermore, in July 2022, the Luján City Council approved the rezoning of the area (from residential to industrial) to authorize the thermoelectric power plant. However, the plant has been operating intermittently since 2017 without the required permits and in violation of applicable provincial regulations.
Construction of the Luján Project thermoelectric power plant began in 2017. A thermoelectric power plant generates electricity by converting thermal energy into mechanical energy. Conventional thermoelectric power plants operate by burning fossil fuels such as fuel oil, natural gas, or coal.
Combustion generates the heat needed to convert water into steam; the steam drives turbines or turbogenerators, which are coupled to electricity generators. A conventional thermal power plant consists of a boiler and a turbine that drives the electric generator. The boiler is the fundamental component, and it is where the combustion of coal, fuel oil, or gas takes place. In contrast, combined cycle power plants are those in which the thermal energy of the fuel is transformed into electricity through the combined use of a gas turbine, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and a steam turbine. This significantly increases the efficiency of conventional power plants in electricity generation, which can rise from 35% to 50%.
These industries are categorized as category 3, and therefore according to Provincial Law 11,459 on Industrial Establishment they must be located especially in an Industrial Park away from the population and have an Environmental Suitability Certificate (CAA).
Thermoelectric power plants that generate electricity using fossil fuels (gas and/or fuel oil) do not align with the concept of sustainable development and are contrary to the global trend in electricity production, which is gradually abandoning generation using fossil fuels and increasingly incorporating generation through the use of renewable energy.
The use of these fuels generates greenhouse gases, causing recognized environmental damage because these gases are not only harmful to the environment but also detrimental to public health due to their toxicity. This directly contradicts the Paris Agreement, which our country signed through Law 27.270, as well as the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and various international human rights treaties.
The activity to be carried out involves the emission into the atmosphere of gaseous combustion effluents that are hazardous to human health, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc. These types of gases generate, among other things, far-reaching acid rain, which affects the environment and puts populations at risk even very far from the emission center.
All of this affects the human right to a healthy environment, which is part of international human rights law. It is a paramount interest enshrined in the national Constitution and in international instruments.
Another significant environmental impact is on water resources. It is estimated that the thermoelectric power plant requires 41,000 liters of water per hour (up to 984,000 liters per day), which is extracted from the Puelche aquifer to cool the boilers and in the gas scrubbing chamber. This consumption jeopardizes the water supply for local residents and deteriorates the quality of groundwater, as the plant discharges liquid effluents containing contaminants from gas scrubbing. There is a high probability of water contamination due to the increased flow of effluents and the resulting physicochemical changes in the water.
It is important to note that the local population uses the same aquifer for their daily personal consumption, due to the lack of a potable water network. This seriously jeopardizes the human right to safe drinking water.
Another relevant aspect is noise pollution, as these power plants produce extremely high decibel levels that negatively impact the surrounding environment. This situation is exacerbated by their proximity to urban areas, compounded by the serious fact that no fire and/or explosion risk assessment has been conducted.
Self-Convened Environmentalists Organization
Araucaria Energy SA (now owned by MSU Energy)
Luján is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the northeast of the province. It is 68 kilometers west of the city of Buenos Aires and is one of the most important cities in the interior of Buenos Aires province. Its urban center is located on the banks of the Luján River. The main school is located in a rural area and is close to several schools and educational institutions.
International agreements/treaties
- Paris Agreement. Law No. 27,270.
- Kyoto Protocol. Law No. 25,438.
- International Agreement. Climate Change. Law No. 24,295.
- Rio+20 Conference
- American Convention on Human Rights, Additional Protocol of San Salvador.
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Environment (Principle 13)
- Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Principles 3 and 4)
- Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development (South Africa 2012)
National laws
- General Environmental Law. No. 25,675
- Comprehensive Industrial Waste Management Law. No. 25,612
- Renewable Energy Promotion Law No. 26,190
- Electricity Regime Law. No. 15,336 and No. 24,065
- Hazardous Waste Law. No. 24.051
- Law No. 27,191 on the National Promotion Regime for the Use of Renewable Energy Sources for the Production of Electricity
- Law No. 13,660 on the safety of facilities for the processing, transformation and storage of solid, liquid and gaseous mineral fuels and its regulatory decree No. 1087/60
- Resolution 177/2007 of the then Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development on Environmental Policy for the contracting of insurance provided for by article 22 of law No. 25,675
- Resolution 21/2016 of the Secretariat of Energy
Provincial laws
- Law No. 12,257
- Law No. 11,459, Decree 1741/96
- Law No. 11,720
- Law No. 11,723
- Law 5965, Dec. 2009/60
- Decree 8912/77
- Resolution No. 538/99
- Decree 266/2002
- Resolution 336/03
- Water Authority Resolutions Nos. 660/11 - 465/13 - 734/14
Beginning
- General principle of damage prevention (Civil and Commercial Code)
- Principle of prevention (General Environmental Law)
- Precautionary principle
- Principle of congruence
- Principle of progressivity