The thermoelectric central project in the site of Punta Alcalde in the city of Huasco, Chile includes two generating units with a total installed capacity of 740 MW. The population of Huasco was raising the alarm since they are already suffering high contamination induced by the petcoke fuel used by the thermoelectric Guacolda.

For the development of the Punta Alcalde project, Endesa (the largest electric utility company of Spain) ensured that the highest standards in technology, efficiency and environmental commitment had been taken into account while also considerating international standards on CO2 emissions and operation.

Tomás Mosciatti, a famous Chilean lawyer, political commentator and radio announcer, stated that "The Endesa thermoelectric plant at Punta Alcalde should not be built".

The Central Punta Alcalde project entered the Environmental Impact Assessment System in February 2009 through which environmental authorities have requested Endesa Chile to fill in information and deal with inconsistencies and observations regardind the project. After three years of processing, the Regional Environmental Assessment Commission of Atacama decided to reject the construction of the plant (June 2012). Subsequently, the company reached an illegal agreement with politicians from the Committee of Ministers who eventually endorsed the project in a hall of La Moneda Palace, seat of the President of Chile.

Fishermen, parents of students, sick people, shellfish divers, artisanal fishermen filed the case before the Court of Appeals of Santiago and obtained a favorable ruling. The judges said that authority should always 'justify' its decisions.

In 2013, the case was brought to the Chile’s Supreme Court. In June 2014, the highest court rejeced the protection appeals filed by opponents of the project. The Supreme Court also ruled that Endesa must maintain a permanent monitoring and publicly report the results (through a web page) around the temperature recorded in the collection and dumping of the Sea waters necessary for the cooling of their chimneys. Furthermore, it will have to finance sampling and analysis by independent laboratories, the results of which will be sent to Endesa and the respective environmental authority. The reports derived from this monitoring will be submitted to the authorities for evaluation. If the results reveal any type of violation of the regulations, the authorization to operate will be revoked immediately. Story to be continued…

Location

Site of Punta Alcalde, city of Huasco, Chile

Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/v1T3GXeryDF2

Environmental impact

• Water pollution
• Land degradation (e.g. drought, soil contamination, erosion and desertification)

Ethical/ legal issues

• Life and personal security

Information sources & materials

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