A monthly report Eco on development and the environment in AE méricas Latin America Final plans filed for dredging of Magdalena River his month a construction consortium deliv- of earth sciences at Medellín’s EAFIT University. ered the Colombian government final plans The government touts the six-year, US$1.3 September 2015 T for the most ambitious engineering project billion effort to rehabilitate over half of the ever undertaken on the Magdalena, Colombia’s 1,000-mile (1,600-km) Magdalena for cargo Vol. 17 - No. 11 longest river. The blueprints call for dredges to transport as a catalyst for economic growth. begin clawing rocks and silt from long stretches Officials say it will cut transport costs for criti- of the murky-green Magdalena early next year as cal exports including coal, oil and minerals by engineers design canals and levees to funnel the 30 to 40%. They also say it will shave green- river’s flow through a narrow channel. house emissions by 20 million metric tons of Inside Environmentalists warn of immense dam- CO2 annually, as cargo shifts from clogged age to the Magdalena’s hydrological and biologi- highways to the river. cal processes and to those of its vast associated “This will revolutionize the economy and Around the region 2 ecosystems. “When you channel a river and lives of Colombians,” President Juan Manuel sever its connections with its drainage basin, its Santos told the press when the government tributaries, floodplains, lagoons and swamps, signed a contract for the work last year with U.S. warns Mexico you kill it,” says Juan Darío Restrepo, a professor continued on page 94 on weak loggerhead sea-turtle protection 3 Drone and satellite policing tested for Cocos Park San José, Costa Rica Ecuadorians can use oachers in Costa Rica’s Cocos Island encompasses 9-square-mile (23-sq-km) Cocos Canadian courts to National Park can run from park rangers; Island, located off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, seek Chevron assets 4 P but thanks to two new electronic surveil- and some 4,492 square miles (11,634 sq kms) lance initiatives, they might soon find it far more of protected ocean waters around it. One has difficult to hide. centered on public scrutiny of satellite images, As solar power gains Conservation groups in recent months the other on monitoring done by drones. in Brazil, solar-panel have been piloting two programs to help gov- Due to the abundance in its waters of plants now in works 5 ernment officials monitor the park, which pelagic species such as dolphins, rays, sharks and tuna as well as much other sea life, Cocos Island CENTERPIECE: is a highly prized marine ecosystem, winning Unesco Chinese investment World Heritage Site status in in region poses new 1997. Yet its marine riches challenges to NGOs attract hundreds of vessels wary of its effects 6 to its waters every year to engage in illegal fishing. Though park rangers Q&A: patrol by boat, they struggle to catch illegal fishermen Kevin Gallagher of in the act. That’s why con- Boston University servation groups this year discusses China’s began testing aerial drones impacts on region 12 and satellite surveillance in hopes of using the new technologies to police the park. The programs’ results have raised the hopes of the Drone being readied for testing at Cocos Island. (Photo by Turtle Island Restoration Network) continued on page 104 EcoAméricas nd ou the r A R e Eco g “there was no pollution.” On large Barrick Gold mine that i Sept. 17, Barrick reported that has been under development. E méricas o A n 224,000 liters of the cyanide Work on Pascua Lama, solution had been spilled, and which straddles the Argentine- Coverage of Latin American environ- on Sept. 23 it boosted the fig- Chilean border, is currently mental developments and trends for ure to 1,072,000 liters, never- suspended in the wake of liti- academic institutions, businesses, Cyanide-solution spill rekindles theless insisting that “human gation in Chile over potential NGOs and public agencies. debate over mining in Argentina health was not affected.” environmental impacts and The warnings of mining As soon as the spill was concern by the company about Editor & Publisher critics in Argentina proved confirmed, a provincial judge declining world gold prices. George Hatch prescient this month when a ordered that bottled water be Follow-up: Felipe Nelson Saavedra, San valve failure at Barrick Gold’s distributed to downstream Juan Province Minister of Mining, San Design Veladero open-pit gold mine residents and that use of Juan, Argentina, +(54 264) 430-6962, Marina Tubio in San Juan province caused cyanide in the mine be sus- [email protected]; Miguel a cyanide spill on Sept. 13 in pended indefinitely. The judge, Giménez Zapiola, Director of Corporate Subscriptions Manager the Jáchal River watershed. Pablo Oritja, later called on Affairs, Barrick Gold Argentina, +(54 11) Maria Belesis Ensuing criticism of Bar- nine Barrick employees to 5776-6600, comunicacionesargentina@ rick Gold is reverberating in appear before him on Oct. 6. barrick.com. Editorial/Subscriptions Office Argentina not only because For its part, the company Fourth Street Press the spill has drawn a strong announced that 15 employees ◊◊◊ 3 Ellis Square reaction from open-pit mining deemed responsible for the Beverly, MA 01915 opponents, but also because accident had been dismissed, Green groups prevail in fight the country is just weeks away and that they were replaced over Mexican aqueduct plan Tel: (978) 232-9251 from a presidential election. with employees brought in A US$3 billion project in Fax: (978) 232-9351 Making a campaign swing from abroad. Meanwhile, Mexico to build an aque- E-mail: [email protected] through San Juan on Sept. 24, members of the United Nations duct serving the northern Web site: www.ecoamericas.com Daniel Scioli, the front-runner Office for Project Services city of Monterrey is being to become president and a (Unops) arrived to assess the canceled, a victory for the member of the party of current spill’s water-quality impacts. many conservation and citi- th President Cristina Kirchner, The Unops team issued a state- zen groups that opposed it. Press ur Street said that despite the incident, ment saying that “dispersal of Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, Fo Argentina should “continue pollutants from an environmen- who takes office as governor forward” with mining. tal incident is not an instanta- of the state of Nuevo León Ecoméricas is published monthly But another of the six candi- neous phenomenon,” and add- on Oct. 4, has said he will by Fourth Street Press, Inc. It is dates, Margarita Stolbizer, vis- ing that the study will there- not extend the contract his available in print and electronic ver- ited San Juan the next day with fore take considerable time. predecessor signed with a sions. One-year charter subscription a very different message. “Min- In the meantime, the outrage private consortium when rate is $225, with discounts available ing companies have no right to of Jáchal residents has shown it expires this month. for organizations needing multiple ruin our territory,” she said. no signs of dissipating. On Environmental groups subscriptions. Back issues are $20 The first news of the acci- Sept. 25, some 1,000 protes- argued the 372-kilometer (231- Copyright © 2015 by Fourth Street dent spill came in a warning tors made the 150-kilometer mile) aqueduct was simply Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Repro- that a worker at the mine sent (93-mile) trip to the city not necessary and said there duction in whole or part prohibited to his family at their home in of San Juan, the provincial were many other ways to except by permission. the city of Jáchal, 120 kilome- capital, in over 100 cars, assure the long-term water ters (75 miles) downstream of vans and buses and staged a supply to Monterrey, the ISSN 1532-835X Veladero, using the Whatsapp demonstration in which they country’s third largest city. messaging service. It read in called for Veladero’s closure. The incoming governor recyc on led d p e a t p n e part: “Don’t drink the water.” Veladero, which produces agreed. “We have other alterna- i r r P Public concern spread imme- some 650,000 ounces of gold tives which would turn out to diately among Jáchal’s 22,000 a year, is situated in the Andes be much cheaper,” he said in a residents, some 400 of whom at an altitude of 4,000 meters Sept. 16 television interview. gathered that evening outside (13,000 feet). Barrick has The Monterrey VI aque- the city’s municipal-govern- said that the US$540 million duct drew fierce opposition ment building to protest the it spent to put the mine into because of its cost and the par- lack of official information. operation in 2005 marks the ticipation of a scandal-tainted Not until the next morning biggest private investment in company in the consortium, Printed on 100% PCW, certified did Barrick Gold acknowledge Argentina since the country’s which was still only in the EcolLogo paper processed chlorine-free that a “cyanide solution” had 2001 economic crisis. Veladero planning stages. Environmental and manufactured using biogas energy. been spilled. At the same time, is less than 10 kilometers (6 groups, among them the U.S.- the company asserted that miles) from Pascua Lama, a continued on page 114 2 September 2015 EcoAméricas U.S. warns Mexico on bycatch of loggerheads Mexico City, Mexico he United States has sent a blunt message uum.