Comment period begins for planned Chilean dam

A subsidiary of the Swiss mining company Xstrata has submitted an environmental-impact study on the first of three hydroelectric-dam projects it is planning on land in Chilean Patagonia that had formerly been slated for a massive aluminum smelter. The submission, announced Jan. 8, marks the start of a 60-day period in which the public can review and comment on the impact statement, which is posted at the website of Conama, Chile’s lead environmental agency. (See Web address below.) Called Río Cuervo, the proposed dam would have an installed capacity of 600 megawatts, require an investment of US$600 million and come online in 2012. It would be located in the Puerto Aysén region, just north of the central Patagonian city of Coyhaique... [Log in to read more]

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