Tag Archive for: Alta Gracia

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Alta Gracia: they denounce spraying near homes

After observing the presence of machines fumigating in fields near their homes, residents of the Tajamar Reserve District filed a complaint with the Judicial Unit of Alta Gracia.

2Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

On the occasion of repeated fumigation episodes at a short distance from their homes, residents of the Tajamar Reserve District of the city of Alta Gracia, contacted Fundeps through our website “Agrochemical Emergency”. Concerned about the situation, after accessing information about the routes of action, they decided to file a criminal complaint with the Judicial Unit of the same city.

Thus, on October 28 they denounced that in repeated opportunities, at night hours and at a very short distance from homes, they were able to observe the presence of machines performing fumigation work. They also said that these fields are located a few hundred meters from their homes and that they have corn plantations. According to the complainants, there would be 60 families that would be affected by the spraying.

Based on the aforementioned complaint, a summary action was initiated, which was originally labeled as “Crime against Public Security.” The facts were communicated to the Prosecutor of Instruction of multiple competence of the city of Alta Gracia, in order to initiate the corresponding criminal investigation.

It should be remembered that this type of behavior – illegal spraying – is subject to sanction from Art. 55 and 56 of the hazardous waste law 24.051, which represses those using hazardous waste – please agrochemicals – poison, adulterate with imprisonment or contaminate in a manner dangerous to health, soil, water, atmosphere or the environment in general.

Author

Augusto Lopez

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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Complaint for illegal environmental activities in Alta Gracia

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

 

Last Thursday, October 19, we made a presentation to the Environmental Police Department denouncing alleged illegal activities developed in the Potrerillo de Larreta Country Club located in the city of Alta Gracia. Apparently, during the last weeks of September and the first weeks of October, large-scale geomorphological injury actions were carried out in the country inn sector in the “Los Paredones” stream; consisting of dredging, deepening and expansion of the reservoir in order to increase the exploitation of the water of the stream by the Country.

They signify a clear violation of the provincial environmental policy law, since in order to carry out this type of works it is necessary to previously complete the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, foreseen in Annex I, subsection 31 of Law 10.208 , which includes the holding of public hearings prior to the granting of the corresponding environmental license, a procedure that has not been completed in this case.

It is worth remembering that since 2012 the Potrerillo de Larreta Country Club has been involved in a judicial process against the province of Córdoba, for the enclosure of almost 4 km of the same stream restricting free transit to third parties and the use of it by the entire community, mainly alleging security reasons. In this instance, together with the collective “Todos por Nuestros Arroyos” we present an Amicus Curiae invoking the character of public good of the stream and the illegitimacy of the fences, finding the next cause to issue a sentence.

Without prejudice to this, the illicit actions continue and are part of a long-standing problem in Alta Gracia that involves particular interests to the detriment of the fundamental rights of all inhabitants. The enclosure of rivers, streams and lakes of provincial dominion by the owners of the estates adjacent to them, constitutes a clear illegitimate act that violates, among others, the right to free transit, the use, enjoyment and use of public domain waters and the constitutionally recognized human right of access to water.

From FUNDEPS we made this presentation hoping to contribute to an adequate protection of the environment as a collective good and to guarantee the respect of rights of collective incidence over individual rights.

More information

Presentation to protect the environment against individual interests in Alta Gracia | FUNDEPS

Author

Noelia Salvia

Contact

María Pérez Alsina – mariaperezalsina@fundeps.org

Amicus curiae to defend the right to health and the environment in Alta Gracia

The field of Human Rights of FUNDEPS presents amicus curiae demanding the effective application of the ban on fumigating in areas of protected environmental area in Alta Gracia to adequately protect the right to health and a healthy environment for the people.

The field of Human Rights of the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policy (FUNDEPS) filed an amicus curiae before the chamber No. 8 of the Civil and Commercial Court of the City of Córdoba, which has to decide on an appeal given by the agro-industrial company Verdol S.A. to obtain, through a preventative measure, permission to use agrochemicals in the area established by the town of Alta Gracia as “Protected Environmental Area.”

In October 2012, the City Council of the city of Alta Gracia passed ordinance 9375 that, among other things, establishes a “Protected Environmental Area,” of 1500 meters from urban areas or permanent settlements.
This ordinance was the achieved through the work of social movements that sought to protect outlying districts of Alta Gracia from chronic exposure to agrochemicals.
The reasons justifying the ordinance are clearly stated, for example, “that all agrochemicals are potentially toxic” and “that the chronic and repeated exposure over long periods of time, and not necessarily elevated amounts of agrochemicals, could cause medical conditions”.
Such chronic exposure appears to have affected the San Juan Park District, adjacent to the grounds of Verdol S.A., where the Department of Allergy and Immunology of the National Clinical Hospital, part of the National University of Córdoba, detected levels of disease far above the average.
According to a study in this community, “51% of the surveyed population is afflicted with an illness,” particularly children.
In this context, ordinance 9375 appears as the minimum measure to protect health and the environment affected by agricultural practices in the area.
It involves the application of the precautionary principle, expressly stated in the General Environmental Act which affirms that “when there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of information or scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing the adoption of effective measures, depending on costs, to prevent degradation of the environment. “
However, the decision of the City Council was challenged in court by Verdol S.A., which filed an action of unconstitutionality against the ordinance.
It also requested an injunction to get a temporary authorization to use agrochemicals until the case is decided.
FUNDEPS filed an amicus curiae arguing that the ordinance adequately protects health and the environment and was issued within the framework of municipal powers.
It also details that the main risk is not a profit decline, but the violation of the right to health and a healthy environment.
The constitutional obligations to protect health and the environment require the rejection of the interim to allow effective implementation of Ordinance 9375 of the Municipality of Alta Gracia.
More information:
Text of the amicus curiae submitted by FUNDEPS
Contact:
Translated by Robyn Franklin