Headlines: E-LAW in the News, Spring 2001

Mexican Environmentalists Oppose Thermoelectric Plant

March 4, 2001 — México`s leading news weekly, Proceso, reports that Alstom France and Sithe International are building two thermoelectric plants less than three miles from Sierra del Abra Tanchipa nature reserve in San Luis Potosi. E-LAW advocate Raquel Gutiérrez Nájera says the Environmental Impact Statement for the project was flawed. "The real repercussions regarding the water source and the biosphere reserve were hidden."

Raquel co-founded the Instituto de Derecho Ambiental (IDEA) in Guadalajara. E-LAW U.S. is helping IDEA identify environmental impacts that were inadequately examined in the project`s Environmental Impact Statement. Raquel has worked with E-LAW since 1995.

Chalillo Dam Threatens Belize

March 2, 2001 — The New York Times reports that a Canadian power company`s proposal to dam a branch of the Macal River in Belize has unleashed a barrage of criticism from environmentalists. Sharon Matola, the Director of the Belize Zoo, fears the dam will flood sensitive jungle habitat. She says, "This is the cradle for biodiversity for Central America. Look at the scarlet macaw; they breed in that river valley. This is the only place in Central America where they can live unmolested."

E-LAW U.S. staff attorneys and scientists have helped Belizean advocates critique the project`s environmental impact assessment. In May, 2000, the Belize government put the project on hold, pending new information.

Boise Cascade Cancels $160 million Chile Forestry Project

February 23, 2001 — Reuters reports that U.S.-based Boise Cascade has canceled plans to build a wood chip processing plant in Puerto Montt, Chile. Last year, lawyers at Fiscalia del Medio Ambiente (FIMA) filed a petition in Ottawa with a joint Chilean-Canadian committee, arguing that Chile violated its own environmental legislation when it approved the project. FIMA claimed the project would destroy about 100,000 hectares of native forest.

Attorneys Fernando Dougnac and Jose Ignacio Pinochet of FIMA were recently in Oregon for the 2001 E-LAW Annual Meeting. E-LAW has been providing FIMA with legal and scientific information to challenge Boise Cascade`s plans in Chile.

Nepal Court Bans Import of Polluting Vehicles

January 24, 2001 — The Environment News Service reports that Nepal`s Supreme Court has ordered the government to immediately stop the import of Indian vehicles not meeting Euro-I emission standards. ENS writes: "The smoke belching vehicles are a primary cause of pollution in the Kathmandu Valley which contains eight sites listed in UNESCO`s World Heritage List." Pro Public, an environmental law NGO in Nepal, filed the writ petition against the Prime Minister, Minister of Environment and other government agencies.

E-LAW U.S. is providing Pro Public with legal and scientific information describing what the U.S. and other countries are doing to control motor vehicle air pollution. E-LAW has been working with Pro Public since 1995.

E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist Joins India`s Maha Kumbh Mela

January 19, 2001 — The Environment News Service reports that Dr. Mark Chernaik, E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist, joined colleagues from the U.S. and India at this year`s Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India. The visit aimed to strengthen efforts to clean up the Ganges. More than 70 million people immersed themselves in the Ganges River during the 42-day Hindu festival. Mark and colleagues met religious leaders and public officials overseeing implementation of the Ganga Action Plan and shared the message of river clean-up and environmental law enforcement.

E-LAW has collaborated for many years with M.C. Mehta and other public interest environmental lawyers in India working to clean up waterways and protect public health.

México`s Green Dream — No More Cancúns

January 11, 2001 — The New York Times reports environmentalists are suing to stop a company in Xcacel, 67 miles south of Cancún, from building a 1,400 room hotel next to one of the world`s last pristine sanctuaries for green and loggerhead sea turtles. The New York Times says, "Today Cancún has nearly 25,000 hotel rooms, roughly three million visitors a year, and nowhere left to build. So for nearly 100 miles down the coast from Cancún, developers are paving paradise as fast as they can."

Lawyers at Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) in México City are representing local communities in Xcacel opposing the hotel. E-LAW has worked with CEMDA since 1995 to protect marine environments.