(UPM, Paso de los Toros, 23 November 2020, 21:00 GMT-3) - The civil court in Uruguay issued today its ruling in the case where members of a local group Movement for a Sustainable Uruguay (Movus) on November 5, 2020 claimed a breach of the environmental permits by UPM regarding the installation of the new pulp mill in the department of Durazno that may cause imminent environmental damage.
As stated in the ruling, the claim has no foundation or merit. This reinforces the fact that UPM has complied with the conditions established in the authorization and no construction activities have commenced without an approval from the Uruguayan environmental authority DINAMA.
The impacts of the new pulp mill have been thoroughly assessed. An environmental and social impact (EsIA) study that is required by the Uruguayan authorities as a prerequisite for a construction permit consisted of a comprehensive description of the planned pulp mill, identification and assessment of any potential environmental and social impacts as well as mitigation measures and conclusions. The environmental and social impact study is a public document, and the process included public hearings.
In addition to the Prior Environmental Authorization (APP) that UPM received from Dinama in 2019, each construction site and phase goes through a review and approval of its specific construction plan prior to move forward. All construction activities have started only when an approval from DINAMA has been obtained for each of the environmental components required in the AAP. Uruguay has tight protocols in place to follow the adherence to the environmental permits.
Links:
- Information about the environmental impact
- Summary and conclusions of the EsIA
- The ESiA in full (Spanish)