Chile court suspends Patagonian HidroAysen dam project (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

A court in Chile has ordered the suspension of a multi-billion-dollar dam project in the south of the country, following objections by legislators and environmentalists.

The five dams are to be built on two rivers in the sparsely-populated Aysen area of Chilean Patagonia.

The project was approved in May, after heavy backing from President Sebastian Pinera.

But the court has now ruled it needs to review the approval process.

It is not clear how long the court will take to decide on the matter.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13851219




Holy crap, they're running power lines for 2000 km ???

Must be nice to have a court that actually listens to environmentalists ...

[hatrack]

1. Finally, some good news!

1. Good thing there's no seismic or volcanic activity that might interfere with those 2,000-km transmission lines, huh?

2. A lot of the resentment within Chile isn't just the environmental impact, it's the fact that the dams (IIRC) are going to be owned and operated for the profit of a non-Chilean company.