Claudia Freire, activist of the Popular Assembly for Water, explained in an interview with Real World Radio’s correspondents and members of Friends of the Earth Argentina, that the open-pit mining project was projected to be installed in Uspallata, to the north of Mendoza.
Environmentalists from Mendoza participated in the 17th meeting of the Union of Citizens Assemblies that took place from November 25 to 28 in Buenos Aires.

“We are a province that developed thanks to water and this project posed a threat to it. Large-scale mining is usually installed close to water streams because it uses up large amounts of water”, said Claudia.

The opposition to San Jorge led to controversy in the province because the environmental impact study submitted by the corporation had serious flaws. “There were 141 observations in the latest report submitted to the government authorities”, she said.

Now the Assembly fears the incoming governor will support the project, since so far he has defended its installation saying “people need it”.

“The Popular Assembly for Water invited everyone to continue being informed and to resist not only against this particular project but against this extractivist model of which this project is a part of”, reads the press release

Photo: http://www.amigos.org.ar/