Greenpeace action at construction site of Uruguay pulp mill

print this

Activists of the environmental organisation Greenpeace on Tuesday claimed to have stopped construction work on the planned pulp mill being built by the Finnish company Metsä Botnia in Fray Bentos in Uruguay.
     Greenpeace says that the construction is illegal, because the commission responsible for control of the Uruguay River, which forms the border between Uruguay and Argentina, has not given its approval to the project, or to environmental impact reports on the matter.
     Commenting on the news, Timo Piilonen, the head of the Metsä Botnia construction project, said in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo that he had heard that the activists had crossed the river from Argentina, put up banners in the harbour, where work was stopped for safety reasons.
     “The work continues normally in other parts”, Piilonen said.
     Piilonen sees the action as a typical Greenpeace publicity stunt aimed at attracting attention. He said that he is not worried that the demonstration would hinder the construction.
     He also insisted that a demonstration of a few days would not have any effect on the construction schedule.
     
Piilonen denies claims that the construction of the pulp mill wold be illegal. “We have all of the permits from Uruguay, which is a sovereign state.
     Environmental groups and politicians in Argentina, on the other side of the Uruguay River, have strongly opposed the planned installation.
     The two countries have negotiated for six months in the commission mentioned by Greenpeace on how to resolve the dispute between the two neighbours.
     “It is a matter for the countries themselves how to agree on the matter”, said Piilonen in response to a question of the river commission’s jurisdiction.
     
In its statement, Greenpeace denounced Botnia for its plans to bleach the pulp in Uruguay with the controversial ECF method, which involves the use of toxic chlorine dioxide.
     The organisation warns that waste waters from the plant would also contain other toxic chemicals, including carcinogenic dioxins.
     The fear of dioxin is based on a study conducted at the University of Stockholm last year.
     “Yes, we use ECF bleaching, just like 80 percent of the world’s pulp mills do”, Piilonen says. “It is in use in all pulp mills in Finland, except one.”
     Piilonen says that ECF bleaching has not been found to be harmful for the environment.
      This is Greenpeace’s expression of faith in chlorine-free bleaching”, Piilonen said, adding that it as an indication that the organisation does not accept scientific fact.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Botnia pulp factory centre of dispute between Argentina and Uruguay (10.1.2006)
  Argentines stage protest against Botnia pulp mill in Uruguay (8.12.2005)
  Transport of building material for Botnia pulp factory stopped by Argentine customs (18.11.2005)
  Argentina demands Botnia abandon their pulp mill undertaking in Uruguay (11.8.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat