Chilean Armed Forces & Celco: local bedfellows

“The ocean has an infinite capacity to absorb our industrial waste.” – Ricardo Lagos, former president of Chile. February 2005, Santiago de Chile.

“It’s very likely that local people will die to keep Celco from building their pipeline into the ocean. We the local fishermen are passionate and organized against this pipeline and we will sacrifice our lives to protect our future and our environment. This is my life and I support my children and my wife from what the ocean gives me – without the health of the ocean and its fauna, I am dead already; I promise that I will not sell out the health of this ocean to the toxic and corrupt paper industry.” – Gino, fisherman & artisan fishing community organizer; July 2006, Mehuin, southern Chile.

There is a ten-year recipe for social action in the making in Mehuin, Chile. In Valdivia, the site of a Celco pulp mill pollution scandal in 2005, Celco plans on building a 50-mile-long overland pipeline to dump its pulp waste directly into the Pacific Ocean near Mehuin. The local fishermen are up in arms, and since 1996 they have done something about it. Before I delve into a brief history of the unfolding drama, allow me to quote some of the news headlines from last week’s confrontation between Celco (who attempted to map the ocean floor site), the Chilean navy (who attempted to protect Celco from the local fishermen), and 40 local fishing boats (who successfully harassed Celco and the navy into leaving without gathering their ocean floor contour data).

“The Southern Ocean’s Secret War” – Diario El Gong, July 27, 2006.
“Celco Fails in EIR Bid After Fishermen’s Actions” – Diario El Gong, July 26, 2006.
“Neighbors Question Government’s Support of Celco” – Diario Valdivia Noticias, July 27, 2006.
“Navy Launches Warship to Protect Celco Scientists” – Diario del Sur, July 26, 2006.
“Navy Defends Actions and Claims to Not Protect Celco” – Diario Austral Valdivia, July 28, 2006.

Video footage of a confrontation between Mehuin fishermen and the Chilean Navy from August 2006:



A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EVENTS: In 1996, Celco seemed to understand that its pulp mill would irreversibly pollute the Rio Cruces / Valdivia watershed because they got approval to build a pipeline to dump their waste into the coastal waters of Mehuin, a small artisan fishing community near Valdivia. The Ocean Defense Committee, was formed by local fishermen to stop this project; they protested via massive demonstrations, burning 3 police motorcycles and one paddy wagon and succeeding in tabling the pipeline proposal.

Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile until 2006, reinitiated the subject in 2005 claiming that “a waste pipeline to the ocean is the only solution, since the ocean has an infinite capacity to absorb industrial waste.”

After the green light from the president of Chile, Celco reinitiated its geographic studies of the region for the construction of its pipeline. The fishermen of Mehuin followed closely, and in December 2005 shots were fired across the bow of a Celco boat by local fishermen as scientists attempted to take depth soundings, ocean bottom contours and water samples. Celco fled the scene without achieving its aims, but returned last week with an escort: a warship from the Chilean navy. Dozens of riot police descended on the small town of Mehuin to control the situation and electrical power to the town was cut.

Nevertheless, over 40 small fishing boats congregated at the scene in heavy seas and torrential rains; they harassed the Celco and navy boats to such an extent that Celco and the navy again left the scene without succeeding at collecting their data. Before they left, the Chilean warship managed to sink two small fishing boats in what it claims was an accidental collision.

I am reminded of the old curse: “may you live in interesting times."

Peace.

Chile's Corporate Dinosaurs & Black-Necked Swans

Thank the gods of the ocean that Chile barely has petroleum reserves of its own. That's what I'm thinking as I'm sitting in a cafe in Santiago de Chile, between environmental surf missions, reading of chaos in the Middle East, Iraq, Israel... Having to import all of your oil into a remote South American nation makes for high oil prices, angry truckers, and sweet STABILITY. No fundamentalists seeking martyrdom, no foreign armies protecting their "interests", no private-public mega-corporations seeking stockholder fortunes. Or is it so? How stable is this famously heralded economic miracle of Latin America?
After five years of studying, living, working and surfing in Chile, and one year back home in California, I have been sent back to beloved Chile by Save the Waves Coalition to tackle the billion-dollar dinosaur known as Celco Nueva Aldea: a new pulp mill in southern Chile owned by the Angelini Group which threatens to destroy numerous cold water point breaks and local livelihoods with air, water and soil pollution. Celco had been found responsible by Chilean authorities and Latin American international court of grossly polluting the Carlos Anwandter Sanctuary, an internationally recognized wetland and black-necked-swan habitat near Valdivia. There were thousands of swans living in this sanctuary, but as of last week their number is officially down to 127. I hope to raise enough public and political hell to stop this from happening in Nueva Aldea, the site of Celco's newest billion-dollar-baby.


"Complejo Forestal e Industrial Nueva Aldea"Celco's latest watery disaster in South America. The Itata River, which empties into the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometers away, can be seen in the background. Photo Will Henry
I returned to Chile on June 13, 2006; this triumphant return was after supposedly being gone from Chile for one year: a year in which I ended up traveling to Chile four times, a year in which I had promised myself to swear off Chile for good. But in 2003 I helped found and still sit on the board of Proplaya, a Chilean non-profit corporation wholly run by volunteer surfers and lovers of the ocean. And they needed me. So back to Chile I went, four times in 2005 - 2006, and back in Chile I am again, helping to publicize and prevent the latest debacle from Celco. I can’t seem to get rid of this South American land of dark-eyed, black-haired passionate beauties, long left pointbreaks and deep-pocketed credit-fueled cowboys.


Going RightSometimes I have to go right in this land o lefts.
Celco is truly a dinosaur in this country. A very ugly dinosaur backed by a small army of well-paid publicists, lawyers, politicians and scientists to make it seem like a well-mannered poodle. Junk science. Local doctors in Constitucion, a coastal surf zone essentially ruined a decade ago by yet another Celco mill, are fearful of publicizing the state of public health in that coastal city. Why? Because Celco funds most of the hospital’s budget. The doctors and city officials I spoke with refused to be named nor quoted. Why, I asked again. Because Celco is a veeeery powerful company. End of official conversation. But an off-the-record casual conversation continued, and in that conversation we spoke of a local public health crisis; of skyrocketing cancer rates downwind of the Constitucion mill; of midnight payoffs and ex-military henchmen. Do you still believe that Chile is the economic miracle of South America? Because sometimes it seems like we need a miracle when it comes to the global paper pulp industry – why do you think it’s nearly outlawed in Europe and Scandinavia? The cleanest part of all this is the foul-smelling pulp mill effluent that is pumped out by the millions of gallons every day here.