Travel Notes: Argentina, Eastern Europe, Colombia

Access to Clean Water in Argentina

Trip Report
Meche Lu
Cordoba, Argentina

Meche Lu, E-LAW U.S. Environmental Research Scientist, takes notes while Ricardo Toselli from CEQUIMAP laboratory collects a water sample.

Chacras de la Merced is a low-income community of 5,000 along the Suquia River on the eastern end of Cordoba, Argentina’s second largest city. A sewage treatment plant was built in the middle of Chacras de la Merced and the smell of raw sewage hangs in the air. The plant needs maintenance, lacks capacity, and frequently discharges effluent into the river. The community has been complaining about the problem since 1992.

Seeking relief, the community called on E-LAW advocates at Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente (CEDHA). The community’s only source of water is wells along the river and many children and family members are suffering from gastrointestinal illnesses.

CEDHA asked E-LAW U.S. for scientific support monitoring water quality in homes and in the river. I traveled to Cordoba in July and met with the local community. This was their first opportunity to speak with a scientist about the problem. I also met with CEDHA lawyers and law clinic students. Together, we identified a local laboratory and microbiologist who could help carry out water quality testing. We coordinated with local community members on water sampling activities, identified best sampling points, and purchased materials.

On the day of testing, we arranged for a notary to accompany the sampling team. We took two water samples from the river, one upstream and one downstream from the sewage treatment plant. We also took three water samples from local homes. All samples were delivered to the laboratory.

The laboratory results were shocking. Family wells were found to have 2,000 fecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml. of water. The World Health Organization recommends that no fecal coliform be present in drinking water. Citizens are now pursuing legal action seeking clean water and abatement of untreated sewage discharge.

The Director of CEDHA, Romina Picolotti, wrote to E-LAW U.S. expressing her gratitude: “We appreciate deeply for giving us the proof in this case. This is key and the legal action wouldn´t have been possible without your help.”

Training Judges in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia

Trip Report
John Bonine and
Svitlana Kravchenko
Lviv, Ukraine

Judges training at the House of Scientists, Lviv.

In June, Ecopravo-Lviv (E-LAW Ukraine) held the first-ever environmental law symposium for Chief Justices of the Constitutional Courts and Supreme Courts of 11 countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia.

On the first day, the judges were reserved and formal. They may have been thinking, “What do these experts have to say to us?” Or they may have been wondering how relevant all this environmental law talk was to their societies struggling to become more democratic, where judicial independence is sometimes more a vision than a reality.

During the first dinner, it was apparent that the judges had connected both with one another and with the environ-mental lawyers providing the training. Justice Paul Stein from Australia and Attorney Parvez Hassan from Pakistan presented cases illustrating standing to sue for citizens and NGOs. Participants were impressed by cases in which plaintiffs represented children, including future unborn generations, defending their right to a healthy environment. The lectures turned into impassioned debates and a final declaration recognized, among other things, the need for support for citizen litigation.

However, the road to the rule of law in environmental matters will be a long one in many countries. When organizer Svitlana Kravchenko told one Justice that she admired her openness, the Justice replied, “Well, I can talk that way here, but it is not so easy to do so back home.” Other Justices were more optimistic and some appeared to be eager to have cases filed in their courts.

The environmental law symposium was made possible with support from the United Nations Environment Programme and the IUCN: World Conservation Union.

John Bonine is co-founder of E-LAW and a member of the E-LAW U.S. Board of Directors. Svitlana Kravchenko is President of Ecopravo-Lviv (E-LAW Ukraine).

Training Indigenous Leaders in Colombia

More than 50 members of the Cocama and Yagua indigenous groups participated in the three-day workshop in remote Puerto Nariño, Amazonas

In May, advocates at FUNDEPUBLICO in Colombia organized a workshop for indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon region. More than 50 members of the Cocama and Yagua indigenous groups participated in the three-day workshop in remote Puerto Nariño, Amazonas.

Indigenous leaders discussed critical threats to their natural resources, intellectual property rights, and cultural integrity. They also learned about legal tools available to communities to defend their rights and sustainably manage natural resources.

Workshop participants found the workshop helpful and asked FUNDEPUBLICO to provide more workshops about environmental rights for indigenous peoples.

The workshop was made possible with generous support from the Ford Foundation. E-LAW U.S. has collaborated with advocates at FUNDEPUBLICO since 1994.