Chile charges Lumina Caserones copper mine with using too much water
Staff Writer |
The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) filed charges against SCM Lumina Copper Chile, for infractions to the provisions established in its Resolutions of Environmental Rating (RCA), both the Caserones Mining project and of the Electric Transmission Line necessary for the development of the project.
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This sanction procedure incorporates a series of whistleblowers, who informed the SMA regarding breaches that the owner would have incurred, on different matters, among which the over-extraction of water in wells authorized for the remediation of contact water infiltrations stand out from tailings deposits, construction and operation of wells not authorized for the same purpose, the non-delivery of desalinated water in the committed flow in the City of Caldera and in the Mal Paso Channel, among other aspects.
Additionally, the formulation of charges considers infractions associated with the lack of response to information requirements and partial compliance with measures issued by this SMA, on the occasion of the first sanctioning procedure to which the Company was subjected and regarding the spill of slats occurred on March 20, 2018.
To all these positions, the construction of cut-off trenches of the tailings deposits is added, without complying with the conditions established in the environmental evaluation of the project, which implied a permanent infiltration from that work, which caused an environmental damage to the aquifer of the sector.
The detailed sanctioning procedure determined 18 acts of infringement against the company, of which 11 were classified as serious and 7 were classified as minor, so that the company could be subject to revocation of the RCA, temporary or definitive closure (in the case of serious infractions) or a fine of up to 62,000 monthly tax units (UTA), equivalent to more than $ 35,938 million.
After notification of this formulation of charges, the company SCM Lumina Copper Chile SA will have a period of 10 working days to submit a Compliance Program and 15 business days to formulate their respective Discharges. ■