Uruguay does not endorse Argentine project to dump treated water into River Plate

Argentina has already begun construction of the Riachuelo System: a mega project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that includes a pretreatment plant and a 14-kilometer pipe that releases the waste, which before reaching the water, is treated at a plant in Argentina, into the Río de la Plata (River Plate).

While the Argentine government is arguing with Uruguay over the monitoring of treated water, tenders have already been invited to construct the Berazategui outfall, another project of similar characteristics.

Although Uruguay approved the construction within the framework of the River Plate Administrative Commission (CARP), there is a significant discrepancy between the Argentine Delegation (Delar) and the Uruguayan Delegation (Delur): monitoring.

While Delur asks for joint monitoring, Delar refuses. The Argentine explanation is that the necessary information has already been provided, and CARP approved the project in 2009.

However, “Uruguay will carry out unilateral monitoring of the waters, when the plant and the emitter start operating, without prejudice to the information to be provided by Aysa. Our country has the material and human resources to carry out this monitoring, which is an imperative need, ” the commission president, Alem García, told El País.

According to CARP, to approve any project affecting the Río de la Plata, it is necessary to have Uruguayan and Argentine approval.

According to El País, some oceanographers believe that, given the shallow depth and width of the Río de la Plata, the waste will not be diluted and will end up at the bottom of the river.

In 2020, the former president of the National Ports Administration (ANP) and lawyer specializing in maritime law, Edison Gonzalez Lapeyre, warned about the pollution the emitter would generate.

For the president of CARP, it is “an imperative need” for Uruguay to monitor the system once it is in operation.

Without solving the problems around the Riachuelo System, both countries disagree again on another project: the Berazategui outfall. While Uruguay claims not to have endorsed it, Argentina has called for bids for its construction.

The explanation given by Argentina is based on the past Frente Amplio administration, which had approved the project. Although this is proven in the minutes, there was also a condition to conduct an environmental study before putting the outfall into operation.

As reported by El País, Argentina made a big mistake while planning the project: it sent the environmental study on the Berazategui System to the Uruguayan government instead of sending it to the administrative commission.

It could lead to a political trial because the situation allows Uruguay to reject the project because the formal aspects established by the CARP were not complied with.

Another friction between the two countries is the dredging of the port of Montevideo. Currently, the access channel is 13 meters deep, but, according to Uruguayan authorities, it should be dredged to 14 meters in the short term.

In March 2021, the government of Alberto Fernández denied the possibility of extending the dredging from 13 meters to 14 meters.

These are some of the factors that add up less than 24 hours before the start of the Mercosur Summit in Asunción (Paraguay), after two years without being held in person.

There, Argentina and Uruguay will face several pending issues, including the underwater outfall projects (Riachuelo and Berazategui systems), the dredging of the Port of Montevideo, and the Free Trade Agreement between Uruguay and China.

President Luis Lacalle Pou announced that Uruguay and China would begin talks in the next few days to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) after the “positive” conclusion of the feasibility study being carried out by both nations.

With information from Infobae