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Help Stop Cargill's Newest Plans--A Mega-port in Asuncion, Paraguay
Stop Cargill's Newest Plans for Destroying Rainforests!
The port will be just one third of a mile away to the water intake of the public utility company that provides drinking water to over 1 million people. Water contamination associated with the port construction will lead to a higher incidence of cancer, leukemia, and respiratory illness. Cargill already built and operates an illegal port in the Brazilian Amazon, but this hasn't satisfied its insatiable appetite for rainforest destruction. Tell the government officials in Paraguay responsible for the port construction to stop it now!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] , Given the initiation of the construction of the "Oil-Extraction Industrial Plant and Bulk Commodities Terminal of Port Zeballos, Inc.", also known as Puerto Union, we want to declare our deep concern. This is a most polluting facility located just a few meters from the drinking water intakes for all the Capital city and surroundings, and also located in a populated section with thousands of inhabitants in extremely vulnerable situation. One of the basic recommendations given by the World Health Organization in order to insure the right to drinking water is to protect the sources from possible pollutants, avoiding the use of complicated and not always safe technologies to insure decontamination. With the industrial facility and the port projected to be built just a few meters upstream from the drinking water intakes, the menace of a sanitary emergency is increased exponentially and, with time and the accumulation of slit and sediment, the levels of contamination will be even higher. The activities at this industry will affect not just the water. Another direct impact will be aimed at the population of nearby communities due to air, noise, vibration contamination, as well as an increase in the population of rodents and insects, among others. However, most concerning undoubtedly, will be the pollution of the air produced by both the oil plant and the traffic of trucks. It should be mentioned that, although it will be food that will be processed and transported, it contains uncontrolled doses of powerful agro-chemicals that in many cases will result toxic to humans. The whole population, not only in the surrounding community but also along the route of trucks, is being exposed to either acute or chronic intoxication. Several known cases in Argentina demonstrate the unhealthy and even lethal direct and indirect influence of a dry bulk port on the population. We hope that these ill-fated experiences will not be repeated in Paraguay. Indirect impacts from this facility will not be less concerning. Needless to say that this will give a strong boost to the expansion of the agro-export frontier, that for years has been devastating forests, land and waters in the territory, and decimating peasant and Indigenous communities in the country. Recent history demonstrates that frenzied adoption of such models of development have only generated more poverty, more exclusion, more inequality and more emigration, plus the deterioration of social linkages that these situations produce. The Cargill firm that is involved is internationally known for its disrespect to environmental laws. Just recently, a Brazilian court order immediate closure of the Santarem port, in the Amazon, until an environmental impact assessment is submitted and approved, since the plant was built illegally. Likewise, and for similar reasons, Cargill was denounced for the construction of a river port in the area of Rosario, Argentina. For the aforementioned reasons, we demand that: 1. The construction of the port and the industrial plant is immediately stopped, and an environmental monitoring is conducted in the area to assess in detail the impacts generated by the ports already operating. 2. The Municipal Ordinance 15/02 is observed, that stipulates that the construction and the activity of polluting activities should not be permitted due to the housing and high landscaping and environmental value characteristics of the area. 3. To work with legal instruments for the territorial arrangement of the country that regulates the sitting of new ports and industrial plants in accordance to production planning. 4. A productive diversification is promoted addressing internal needs of food, controlling the expansion of the agro-export frontier and, following the UN guidance, an urgent moratorium is declared in regard to the production of agro-fuels.
Thank you, |
Campaign Launched: |
Agribusiness giant Cargill want to build a new mega-port in Asuncion, Paraguay to export 1,000,000 tons of soybeans per year.| Background Information |
The expansion of the soybean frontier advances at the costs of drought, forest fires and eviction of the peasant population. Now, Cargill's proposed dry-bulk loading port, for the processing and marketing of soybean, endangers the population of Asuncion and nearby communities. The Citizens' Assembly for Life and Health, formed by organizations and citizens that feel threatened by this project, are requiring support to stop this situation.
Disappearance of forests, loss of biodiversity, destruction of water sheds, rural expulsion, para-militarization of the land and violation of human rights is the tragic balance generated by over 2,6 million hectares of transgenic soybean cultivated in Paraguay.
Real estate speculation caused by the advancement of the soybean frontier is becoming more common . Peasant communities are being displaced from their land to make way for soy expansion. Violence against the rural population is both direct and indirect. An estimate of 90 thousand people have been displaced from the fields every year during the last decade, and a peasant leader is assassinated every two months within the framework of the fight for land reform.
This year, agribusiness is getting ready for a new mega-crop and has announced cultivation of 400 thousand new hectares of soybean. This single crop farming is projected in a zone traditionally dedicated to family agriculture, which implies the disappearance of whole communities and the substitution of food crops by production of commodities, fogger and oil for bio-diesel fuel.
Cargill is a leading agribusiness company in Paraguay, marketing 30% of the national production of soybean, corn and wheat, having 41 port and warehousing facilities. Presently, the expansion of the agropecuary frontier and the need to lower transportation costs has knocked the doors of the Paraguayan capital city. The "Oil-Extraction Industrial Plant and Bulk Commodities Terminal of Port Zeballos, Inc."; a mega-port in construction, will have an export capacity of 1,000,000 tons of soybean per year, and will burn 230,000 cubic meters of firewood annually.
This area is inhabited by a large number of shallow water fishermen that depend on their activity for living. The projected port is just 500 meter upstream from the water intake of the public services company that provides drinking water to 1,100,000 people in Asunción and the vicinity; the hydrocarbon waste from barges, the disturbance of the sediments on the river bed and the drift of dusts and agriculture toxic matter from the grains will undoubtedly affect the whole supply of drinking water. The presence of these elements in urban water will signify an exponential increase in the probability of appearance of diseases such as cancer, leukemia, allergies, respiratory and intestinal tract problems, abortion and congenial malformation.
his facility has been qualified by Paraguayan organizations as an act of bio-terrorism, as it implies massive use of chemical agents that - no doubt - will affect the inhabitants in the region.
Cargill is known worldwide for its disrespect of environmental laws. Just recently, a Brazilian court ordered immediate closure of the Santarem port in the Amazonia, until an environmental impact assessment is submitted and approved, since the plant was built illegally. Likewise, and for similar reasons, Cargill was denounced for the construction of a river port in the area of Rosario, Argentina.
In the port of Asunción, licenses were awarded during vacation months, without any type of public consultation. Also, the EIA, or Environmental Impact Assessment, was conducted following the standard format, without giving serious consideration to the particular characteristics of the site or the population.
Presently, several organizations have demonstrated their outright rejection to this project and have submitted complaints before diverse agencies; also, public hearings have been convened at the Congress and the Municipality of Asuncion. However, authorities decline the responsibility and behave noncommittally, without providing answers or solutions. They argue that the port will generate jobs and that Paraguay can not turn its back to such important investment project.
However, the high risks posed in a facility this size can not be ignored by national, departmental or municipal authorities. In order to stop this mega-project that menaces both the population and the environment, the Citizens' Assembly for Life and Health has been formed by several social and civil organizations.
