environment

Petaquilla decision applauded

Environmental groups yesterday cheered the Supreme Court’s ruling that declared legal the investigative process being advanced by the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (Anam) against the mining company Minera Petaquilla for starting a project without completing an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Two groups, the Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (Ciam) and the Asociación Nacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (Ancón), have asked Anam, separately, to impose a penalty of $10 million.

Ancón, in a letter addressed to Anam general administrator Ligia Castro, blasted the company for the project’s alleged “enormous environmental impact” on an area of “immense biodiversity, forests and aquifers.”

Ciam’s request centered around the mining company’s Cerro Petaquilla project, in the Donoso area of the Colón province, arguing that it has disturbed forests, soil and crucial watersheds within the Corredor Biológico Mesoamericano.

Ciam’s aspirations go beyond a mere fine, however. It ultimately hopes that Anam will shut down the project entirely, and that the Ministerio de Comercio e Industria refuse to grant a 73,000-hectare concession that the company has bid on.

In their appeal to the lawsuit, defense lawyers for the mining company argued that Minera Petaquilla’s projects complied with environmental laws, as stipulated by the government’s concession contract.