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Rescue Plan for the

Riachuelo Toxic Campaign / Riachuelo

April 2009

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Index

INDEX................................................................................................................................2 STEP 1: STOP LOOKING THE OTHER WAY..................................................................3 STEP 2: LEARN FROM THE PAST..................................................................................9 STEP 3: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOR THE RIACHUELO.....................................11 The Parties..................................................................................................................................................12 Main Resolutions in the proceedings of the Case.......................................................................................14 RULING.......................................................................................................................................................15

STEP 4: ENFORCEMENT OF THE RULING.........................................................................18 ACTIONS AND OMITIONS IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION..............................................................................18 Enforcement of RULING............................................................................................................................19 Action conducted by the Collegiate Body...................................................................................................19 SAyDS Sanitation Plan.......................................................................................................................... ....20 The role of ACUMAR ................................................................................................................................22 Participation and Information.....................................................................................................................26 Sewage Sanitation Works.........................................................................................................................28

STEP 5: ASSESSMENT AND CITIZEN CONTROL ………............................................30 WORDL DAY FOR WATER 2009: World Water Day 2009: An assessment after 9 months of CSJN case (Document )……………………………………………………………………………………………………….30 National Government obligations ………………………………………………...….…………………….….. 30 The exactly achieved................................................................................................................................31 Collegiate Body Proposals.......................................................................................................................34 ACUMAR: AN ERRATIC ORGANIZATION WITHOUT LIDERSHIP....................................................... 36 “BUSINESS AS USUAL” IN THE RIACHUELO.......................................................................................37 2009 Greenpeace Sampling...................................................................................................................37 Summary of the consequences of some of the chemical compounds discharged into the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin........................................................................................................................................................40 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................41

STEP 6: ADOPTION OF A “ZERO DISCHARGE PLAN”..........................................43

OBJECTIVES FOR 2020..............................................................................................................................46 OBJECTIVES FOR 2015..............................................................................................................................46 OBJECTIVES FOR 2010..............................................................................................................................46 APPENDIX I: NATIONAL LAW 26,168...............................................................................47 APPENDIX II: SAMPLING BY GREENPEACE IN 1998, 2000 AND 2009.........................50 APPENDIX III: HEAVY METALS IN THE WATERS OF THE BASIN ACCORDING WITH OFFICIAL SAMPLINGS.......................................................................................................52

STEP 1: Stop looking the other way

The environmental situation at the Matanza Riachuelo Basin (from the Spanish CMR – Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo) is very dramatic. Pollution is reaching critical levels at the middle and lower course of the river and has direct consequences on the health and quality of life of the Basin’s residents. Years of negligence, dereliction and indolence have turned the river and its area of influence into a national hallmark of pollution and environmental injustice. As a consequence, the riparian community coexists with unacceptable levels of pollution and risks. The alarming landscape of the Basin is the result of the combination of several factors, among which we may identify:

• Periodic Flooding: Flooding is caused both by heavy rainfall and by the serious Sudestadas (strong southeast winds), which voluminous tides from the Rio de la Plata which enter the river upstream. The risk of flooding increases as a result of the low land elevation, the shortfall of the storm drains and a poor discharge of trunk sewer lines. Contaminated water floods houses, streets and soils, endangering the population’s health.

Lower Basin Matanza Riachuelo. Google Earth

• High levels of pollution: In the Matanza-Riachuelo basin, some of the discharged pollutants are originated by industries, and some by residential waste water. Some data, somewhat inaccurate, show that out of 3,000 surveyed companies in the BasinF1F, only 100 are responsible for approximately 83% of the industrial pollutionF2F. Many industrial toxic discharges are dumped into rainwater collectors, into the soil and into the river. Wastewater is discharged into the groundwater, using cesspits or into storm discharges.

1 The number of industries varies greatly depending on the source and on the year of the study. 4,100 is the figure provided by ACUMAR. The estimated number of industrial plants operating in the Basin for the last 10 years is between 4,100 and 10,000.

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2 This data belongs to a 2002 feature published by the Argentine Newspaper Clarín, such information was provided by the chairman of the Committee for the Environmental Management Plan of the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin

• Uncontrolled urban and industrial

development: The Matanza-Riachuelo Lower and Middle Basin is characterized by a large conglomerate of industries and housing facilities which were settled under poor planning and regulatory conditions; and it is also characterized by the proliferation of shanty towns or slums. This has brought about great environmental deficit. All in all, urban infrastructure is deficient: Drinking water services only reach 65% of the Basin’s population and hardly 45% of households are covered by the sewage service.

All these factors of environmental deficit exist in an 80 km long basin, comprising 14 municipalities and part of the City of Buenos Aires, and covering an area of approximately 2,000 km2. About 5 million people live in that region, potentially affected by pollution in its multiple varieties. That population accounts for almost 13% of the Argentine population. This basin is part of the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, the most populated of Argentina.

Matanza Riachuelo Basin • 80 km long. • Covers 14 municipalities and the City of Buenos Aires (CABA)

• Covers 2,000 km2.

• 5 million inhabitants. This is 12.5% of the country's population.

• 35% of the population does not have drinking water.

• 55% do not have sewers.

• Approximately 4,100 industries.

Several surveys on industries suggest the existence of a minimum of 4,100 plants settled in this region, most of them Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In the early ‘90s, discharges into de Riachuelo were estimated at 368,000 m3 in the case of sewage and at about 88,000 m3 in the case of industrial liquid waste per day. According to current data provided by the Matanza Riachuelo Basin Authority (ACUMAR), a third of the river’s average flow is made up of liquids from industrial dischargesF3F.

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3 ACUMAR (Autoridad de la Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo or Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority)

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Source: Office of Public Defense- Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo de la Nación)

The industrial sector is composed of electroplating, meat processing plants, tanneries, petrochemicals plants, etc. According to data published by ACUMAR, industrial discharges are divided follows:

Effluent Discharge per Type of Industry

Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Oil Industries 30%Meat Processing Plants and Dairy Products Industries 21%Food Processing Pants and Beverages Industries 14%Paper and Textile Industries 11%Steel Industry 7%

Others 17%

Source: ACUMAR

According to the data provided by the Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development (SAyDS), the most polluting industries in the basin are tanneries, which account for over 50% of industry-originated pollutants, closely followed by the meat processing sector with over 20%. Both sectors totalize a daily discharge volume of 2 million cubic meters. The plants related to the leather and fur industry comprise 251 facilities, of which 179 are tanneries, most of

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them located in the municipality of Lanús. Most of their discharged pollutants are sulfides, organic matter, fats and trivalent chromiumF4F.

50%

20%

30%

Most Polluting Industries

Tanneries

Meat Processing Industries

Others

Source: SAyDS (2006) Most of the industries of the CMR (Matanza-Riachuelo Basin) discharge heavy metals which have been found in the basin at concentrations higher than the permissible levels. Furthermore, in the basin there are over 100 open-air dumps and a closed sanitary landfill. The precarious settlements pose an extremely high health risk. That is the case of “Villa Inflamable”, where a research conducted in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) showed that, for example, the blood lead found in of 50% of the children pose high risks. The next table is a short summary of the presence of pollutants in children from Villa Inflamable.F5

4“Matanza Riachuelo Basin Comprehensive Plan”, 2006, SAyDS. The difference between the 2 million m

3 discharged from

tanneries and meat processing plants and the previous figure provided by the organization of industrial waste (of 88.000 m3)) is notable. This proves the wide differences found in the available data.

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5 JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). These results derive from the JICA I Project (“JICA I/JICA 2002 Final Report”) and JICA II, “Strategic Action Plan” 2003.

> Found in the population of children analyzed SUBSTANCES VILLA

INFLAMABLE CONSEQUENCES IN THE BODY PRESENCE AND EMISSIONS

Blood Lead 50% Affects the nervous system Decreases IQ scores Produces miscarriages Headache or cephalalgia Seizures

This heavy metal is found in water and soil.

There are multiple sources from different industries. No company formally declares the use of lead.

Vehicular traffic is also a source of lead emission.

Chromium 38.9% Mucous membrane irritation

Gastrointestinal problems Cancer

Present in water and soil. 20 and 45 μg/l can be found in water, whereas the normal conentration is of 1 μg/l.

This high concentration of chromium is explained because the river receives 68 kg of chromium daily.

Benzene 11% Respiratory damage. Produces brain, stomach, lung and skin tumors and also different types of leukemia.

Damage in the immune system. Produces alterations in the respiratory function.

Produces chromosomal abnormality and congenital malformation.

Present in the air. The main producer and emissor of benzene is the Shell coke plant.

There was an attempt to settle this plant in Holland, but having failed due to legal barriers, it was settled in Dock Sud.

Toluene, also known as methylbenzene, or Toluol

88% Can produce mutations of live cells and affect the development of embryos and human fetus.

Produces alterations in the nervous system.

Weakness. Loss of Memory.

Present mainly in the air. The main emissors are the chemical reception and storage plants.

* Data from the 2003JICA Report – Chapter 7 – Health Study – Section-E - Discussion

Some weeks ago, the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo” described the Riachuelo as the most polluted river in South America, and the travel chronicles through its waters, explain that “55% of the population does not have access to drinking water system networks: The supplying cisterns are next to the cesspits, creating a spongy ground fertile for a the spreading of a wide variety of bacteria. The Riachuelo absorbs 375,000 cubic meters of sewer waste on a daily basis. One part is dumped into Río de la Plata, and the rest, a bed made up of 4 million cubic meters of poisonous mud, is discharged, together with the industrial waste, into the created riverbed.”F6

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"I had heard and read that the Riachuelo is the most polluted riverbed in South America and that throughout its 65-kilometer-stream, it passes through the most populated areas of GBA (Gran Buenos Aires) leaving behind a trail of diseases to which physicians cannot find a cure. But one thing is to go over the reports in the computer and a very different one is to set sail from La Boca dock southeast. It is 8:30 and the veil of mist raises, allowing the vision of thousands of plastic containers hanging like multicolored buoys from a viscous medium. From some distance, on terra firma, a huge mass of factories is spotted, which, through tributary streams, release a daily volume of 125.000 cubic meters of heavy and base metals: Lead, mercury, copper, cadmium.” (Extract: “Navegando por el río más contaminado de Sudamérica”, “El Mundo” journal Spain

6 “Navegando por el río más contaminado de Sudamérica”, Ramy Wurgaft, “El Mundo”, 03/01/2009,

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/02/28/internacional/1235834943.html

According to the testimony of Daniel FrenkelF7F, quoted by the Spanish newspaper, “75% of the basin’s residents suffer from a pollution related disease”. The chronicle ends by pointing out the governmental indifference: “The sanitation plans for the basin have been piling up since the ‘90s but none has been carried out. Jaime Bustamente is the owner of Petronila, a sand barge which was modified for researches conducted on the river and on the river banks: The biggest open-air sewage in the world, concluded the biochemists, who voluntarily conduct measurements and whose clamor does not reach the Casa Rosada (Official Residence of the Argentine President), in spite of the fact that the presidential seat is located only 15 kilometers from the basin, and simply by opening the windows, residents can breathe its emanation”.

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7 “Daniel (Frenkel) works as a volunteer at a polyclinic in Villa 11, one of the 400 shacks settlements at the Riachuelo banks”, http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/02/28/internacional/1235834943.html

STEP 2: Learn from the past

The current status of the Riachuelo is a consequence of over a century of dereliction. The prevailing concept in Argentina is that water has the ability of diluting everything it receives. Implicitly, in some areas, the prevailing concept is that the contamination of the water courses is an inevitable consequence of development. The Matanza-Riachuelo Basin is the most emblematic case of pollution and degradation that misguided public and private policies have caused to many rivers and streams of our country. The condition of this basin is an example of the squandering of natural resources and of lack of prevention. Throughout the years there have been several announcements and attempts to clean the CMR and to remedy its severe situation. One of the most notorious announcements was made by former President Carlos Menem, when he entrusted the Secretariat of Natural Resources and Human Environment (SRNyDS) with the task of cleaning the Riachuelo in a 1,000 days. The announcement was made on January 4th, 1993 and the timeline was due by October 1995F8F. The official promise was materialized with the so called Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin Environmental Management Plan (Plan de Gestión Ambiental - PGA), adopted in March 1995. Said Plan was strongly financed by a USD $250 million loan from the Inter American Development Bank, IADB, and an additional local allotment of 250 million dollars. The loan was signed in January 1998, and, for the first time there were sufficient funds to implement a real clean-up planF9F. In 1995, Menem’s administration created a body composed of the Secretariat of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (SRNyDS), and the Ministry of Works and Public Utilities of the City of Buenos Aires; Such body was the Executory Committee for the Environmental Management Plan of the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin (Comité Ejecutor del Plan de Gestión Ambiental y de Manejo de la Cuenca Hídrica Matanza Riachuelo (CEMR). It was chaired by the engineer María Julia Alsogaray who was in charge of the execution of said plan. The under- execution of the loan during the following years is an indicator of the lack of development of the projected works. Many of the hurdles that prevented the correct implementation of the loans granted by the IABD, are linked to the problems in the direction of the CEMR as an Executing Unit. Works were practically stagnated, except for payments for consultancy studies prior to them; the funds remained almost unused. Finally, in 2002 those funds were re-allocated for social welfare purposes due to the country’s economic crisis, and only a small part of the loan was used for works in the CMR. Even though there were other initiatives from the Province of Buenos Aires, the City of Buenos Aires and other national organizations (Aguas Argentinas, INA, etc.) none of them could obtain the magnitude of the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin Environmental Management Plan (PGA), nor its budgetary support.

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8 The Secretariat of Natural Resources and Human Environment is now called Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development. 9 IADB 1059 OC-AR Loan

It is evident that the environmental situation of the basin, especially in relation to industrial pollution, is unlikely to be restored without the substantial steps that lead to prevent source pollution. It is essential to come up with a calendar with concrete timelines to reach the objective of zero discharges of pollutants into the water. Cleaning-up measures, though necessary and vibrant, will not succeed unless a Clean Production is duly implemented, covering the policies and measures that in the short, medium and long term may solve the source of the problem, rather than easing the symptoms. This implies a radical change in the way industrial pollution is addressed, and demands that industries and governmental agencies be accountable for the toxics companies produce and release into the environment, as well as for a progressive reduction thereof. The Matanza-Riachuelo Basin environmental remediation may become a turning point in the environmental history of Argentina. In the CMR one can easily witness the environmental, social and human damage caused when water courses, streams and rivers are used as industrial open-air sewage systems and dumps.

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STEP 3: Environmental Justice for the Riachuelo

“Mendoza, Beatriz Silvia and others v/National Government and others about/damages (damages derived from the environmental pollution of the Matanza Riachuelo River)"" (File M.1569.XL)

As a result of the failed plans to reverse the CMR environmental deterioration, in view of the increasingly serious consequences for the inhabitant’s health and facing the indifference of the authorities, a high-profile lawsuit was filed by people against the National Government, Buenos Aires province, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, and 44 industries about damages suffered as a result of the environmental degradation in 2004. On July 20, 2006, the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice (in Spanish, CSJN) acknowledged its jurisdiction and issued a ruling calling on the Government to put in place a concrete sanitation plan to improve environmental conditions in the basin and compelled companies to inform on measures adopted to halt and redress the CMR pollution. This was a pivotal move towards resuming the debate and revising CMR sanitation plans. The Supreme Court ruling sparked the need to streamline several processes, such as, the need to create a governmental agency which may overcome the failures of CEMR (Execution Committee of the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin Environmental Management Plan), and which may show a greater executive capacity than the one displayed by the former agency. Therefore, by the end of 2006, National Law 26,168 was passed; it provided for the creation of an Authority for the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin (ACUMAR): “The Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority is hereby created as an interjurisdictional public law agency under the scope of THE SECRETARIAT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESIDENCY OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS”. Article 1 of Law 26,168 sets forth: The Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority shall exercise its jurisdiction over the Matanza - Riachuelo Basin area within the scope of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, and the districts of Lanús, Avellaneda, Lomas de Zamora, Esteban Echeverría, La Matanza, Ezeiza, Cañuelas, Almirante Brown, Morón, Merlo, Marcos Paz, Presidente Perón, San Vicente and General Las Heras, of the province of Buenos Aires. As a consequence of the creation of ACUMAR, all the CEMR pending activities fell under the jurisdiction of the newly created institution.F10 Finally, on July 8, 2008, the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice rendered a historic judgment defining the responsibility of the National Government, Buenos Aires Province and the City of Buenos Aires in the prevention and remediation of the Environmental Damage existing in the Basin. It was an unprecedented ruling that opened a huge window of opportunity for there to be “Environmental Justice" in the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin and for its inhabitants. The following table summarizes the proceedings of the above mentioned lawsuit, whose result is paramount to start addressing the current situation and spells out the guidelines to be observed hereafter in the CMR.F11

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10Law 26.168, see Appendix I. 11

From the publication “UNA POLÍTICA DE ESTADO PARA EL RIACHUELO”, FARN, April, 2009

Plaintiffs

• 17 neighbors of Buenos Aires Province and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Respondents

• National Government (In the event of a reported situation in a interjurisdictional waterway, over which it exercises regulatory and control powers, Section 75, subsection 10 and 13 of the Argentine Constitution)

• Buenos Aires Province (for it has the original dominion over the natural resources

existing in its territory. (Section 121 and 124 of the Constitution)

• Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (in its capacity as co-riparian of the Riachuelo, which is under its jurisdiction, of its public domain.)

• Companies: F

12 Antivari. S.A.C.I. Aguas Argentinas S.A. AySA S.A. CEAMSE Central Dock Sud S.A. Cervecería Bieckert S.A. Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes

S.A. Coto C.I.C.S.A. Covyc S.A. Curtiduría A. Gaita S.R.L. Curtiembre Ángel Giordano

S.R.L. Curtiembre Francisco Urciuoli

SA Daimler Chrysler Arg.

S.A.C.I.F.I. Danone Argentina S.A. Dapsa S.A. Dow Química Argentina S.A. Fábrica Justo S.A.I.C. Frigorífico Gral. Las Heras S.A. Materia Hermanos S.A.C.I. Luppi Hnos. Cia Ltda. Curtiduría Meranol S.A.C.I. Molinos Río de la Plata S.A. ODFJELL Terminals TAGSA

S.A. 14 Municipalities

• Almirante Brown • Avellaneda • Cañuelas • Esteban Echeverría • Ezeiza • Gral. Las Heras • La Matanza

Orvol S.A. Pamsa Productores de Melaza S.A. Petrobras Energía S.A. Petrolera del Cono Sur S.A. Petro Río Compañía Petrolera S.A. Química True S.A.C.I.F. Rasic Hnos. S.A. Sadesa S.A. Seatank (Buenos Aires) S.A. Sorialco S.A.C.I.F. Shell C.A.P.S.A. Solvay Indupa S.A.I.C. Sulfargen S.A. Tratamientos de Efluentes de

Avellaneda S.A. (TEA) Tri-Eco S.A. YPF S.A.

• Lanús • Lomas de Zamora • Marcos Paz • Merlo • Morón • Presidente Perón • San Vicente

THIRD PARTIES ADMITTED

• National Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo de la Nación)

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• Non-Gubernamental Organizations (NGOs) Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN), Asociación de Vecinos de La Boca (AVLB), Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Asociación Ciudadana por los Derechos Humanos (ACDH) y Fundación Greenpeace Argentina.

• Lomas de Zamora neighbors

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE COMPLAINT Plaintiffs sought:

• Compensation for damages resulting from the contamination of the CMR (in order to remedy the supervening incapacity, medical treatment expenses, displacement expenses, moral damage, psychological damage suffered by parents and their children, future damages covering expenses to cure children affected by contamination, and the decreased value of the realty they inhabit).

• Contamination Cessation and Remediation of the Collective Environmental Damage

(Section 41 NC and 30 LAW 25,675). Injunctions:

a) Creation of a public fund, aimed at repairing the damage caused to the victims, and which shall conduct actions to remedy the reported situation during the legal proceedings.

b) The request to the Executive Branch to resume and continue the Environmental Management Plan of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin until it is duly finished.

c) Implementation of urgent measures for the immediate health assistance of the riverbank residents

d) Filing the case with the IGJ (Argentine Regulatory Agency of Business Associations), in the Public Registry of Commerce and in the Record of Shareholders of each company sued.

Major Resolutions of the Case

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06/20/2006 Initial resolution stating the subject matter of the case and adopting the measures: “This case shall have the sole purpose of protecting the collective wellbeing. Thus, the absolute priority hereof is to prevent future damage, for, as provided for herein, the subject matter hereof refers to ongoing acts which shall continue to cause contamination. Secondly, it is hereby ordered that the already caused pollution is redressed according to the mechanisms provided for by law; and, finally in the event of irreversible damages, the compensation thereof shall be considered”. (Whereas 18)

• Declares the original jurisdiction in relation to all those aspects related to the prevention, remediation and indemnification of the collective environmental damage (for damages refer to the contamination of interjurisdictional resources and the parties hereto are the National Government and the Province of Buenos Aires, Article 7 LAW 25,675 and 117 N.C)

• Declares the Court lack of original jurisdiction with respect to the claim aimed at redressing damage caused to the individual Plaintiff’s assets.

• Exercises the authority conferred by Article 32 of LAW 25,675 and hereby requires: To companies: All Public Information referred to their productive processes, to

the treatment of the waste they produce and to the existence –or inexistence - of a contracted insurance pursuant to Article 22 of Law 25,675.

To Governments, and to the Federal Environmental Council (from the original COFEMA - Consejo Federal de Medio Ambiente): the submission of a Comprehensive Environmental Sanitation Plan, covering minimum guidelines:

• Environmental Territory Regulations • Control of anthropic activities. • Environmental assessment studies on sued companies. • Environmental Education Program • Public Environmental Information Program.

Initiation of public hearings to foster promotion and participation in the Process

• Compels the Plaintiff to submit further information upon request. • Adjourns the decisions on injunctions.

05/09/2006

First Public Hearing: Submission of the Integrated Environmental Clean-up Plan (Plan Integral de Saneamiento de la Cuenca Matanza-Riachuelo, PSICMR) and the plaintiff’s opening statement.

09/12/2006 Continuation of the First Public Hearing: Statement from Companies on the information required and of the third parties to the case.

02/20/2007 Second Public Hearing: Measures adopted regarding the PSICMIR. Ms. Picolotti, defense counsel of the sued governments, stated the advances made, pursuant to the requirements set forth by Supreme Court ruling dated February 6th, 2007.

02/23/2007 In accordance with its ordained faculties and powers, (Article 32 LAW 25,675) the Court ordered the intervention of the University of Buenos Aires, so that through the work of professors with background and expertise in the various relevant fields, it would proceed to inform the Court of the feasibility of the Clean-Up plan presented by the state authorities.

From 4 to 7/2007

Third Public Hearing: Regarding the contents of the PSICMIR and the observations submitted by the UBA Committee of Experts, the Court instructed to add up any supplementary information.

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08/22/2007 The Argentine Supreme Court of Justice (CSJN) o Served notice to the parties, and set forth procedural rules. o Instructed ACUMAR and all the parties to the case to furnish updated information on: o Condition of water, air and groundwater systems of the river basin o The list of industrial facilities currently conducting polluting activities in the basin. o Documentation regarding ACUMAR activities. o Relocation of communities and industries. o Projects for the Petrochemical Pole o Green Credits o Dumps o Clean-up of River Banks o Drinking Water Network o Storm drains o Sewage Sanitation. o Emergency Health Plan

11/ 28, 29 and 30/2007

Forth Public Hearing: Answer to Complaint 20 respondents filed pleas in abatement.

RULINGF

13 The Supreme Court of Justice divided the subject matter of the case, based upon the necessity of urgent measures, using a timeframe; it resolved to: Continue with the proceedings of assigning pecuniary liabilities in relation to the collective damage remediation. (Past) Issue final ruling on the environmental prevention and remediation (Future)

RULING The ruling consists of a mandatory mandate which sets forth the objectives and contents of an action plan, and stating that it shall be on each competent authority’s sole discretion to decide upon the means thereof. Objetives: 1) improvement of the quality of life of the river basin inhabitants 2) the environmental restoration 3) the prevention of reasonably foreseeable harm Designates ACUMAR as the authority responsible for enforcing the mandate, without prejudice to the full responsibility of the National Government, the Province of Buenos Aires and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

PROGRAM CONTENT PUBLIC INFORMATION

Creation of a public digital information system on the internet, accessible for the general public Quarterly report on the condition of water, groundwater and air quality Public presentation of progress and estimated timing of the planned initiatives of the Federal Sub-Program Framework for the urbanization of villas (shanty towns) and Squatter Settlements.

INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION Conduct inspections of all businesses currently in the basin within 30 days. Identification of those deemed polluters. Mandate the submission of an effluent

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treatment plan within 30 days which shall be assessed within 60 additional days by ACUMAR Cessation of discharges, emissions and disposition of polluting substances into the basin within 180 days The Basin Authority is entitled to order closure and/or relocation measures for industries, and to adjourn the timelines or propose alternative measures when it is determined that it is unfeasible to afford treatment costs or in the event of serious social situations. Submission of a Project for Industrial Remediation and relocation of Dock Sud Petrochemical Pole. No established timeline.

DUMPS SANITATION Ensure within six months that measures are adopted to stop illegal waste dumping in the river basin, and to prevent new open air dumps within one year Order measures for the eradication of human settlements near dumps. Creation of a Comprehensive Urban Solid Waste Management Plan. Cleaning of riverbanks Information on rodent eradication plans and on the plan to design public parks by the river basin

INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS Order the submission of public information on works plans, on those plans under execution with a special emphasis on those projects due by 2007 – with specifications in each case as to timelines, involved budgets, in the case of: Extension of the drinking water network. Storm drains Sewage sanitation

EMERGENCY HEALTH PLAN Creation of a socio-demographic map. Orders researches into risk factors for the purpose of determining the at-risk population and existing health affections. Creation of a diagnostic database for all diseases caused by air, soil and water pollution and a follow-up system for the detected cases Creation of a Register and Database System of detected diseases. Creation of Epidemiologic Surveillance

Measures. Creation and implementation of a specific Sanitation Plan within 60 days upon completion of the aforementioned.

ENFORCEMENT OF THE RULING In order to ensure the correct execution of the ruling, the Court resolved: To confer to the Federal Judge of First Instance of Quilmes full jurisdiction to hear all questions related to the implementation of the Court’s ruling and to revise of all challenges submitted by ACUMAR. To further empower the Court of Quilmes to instruct the investigation of crimes resulting from the non-completion of the judicial mandates and to determine the value of fines. Furthermore, the decisions made by the Court of Quilmes shall be deemed as adopted by the superior court for this matter, thus challenges brought before this court, if in accordance with admissibility requirements, may be filed directly before the Court. The creation of a Collegiate Body made up by representatives of non-governmental organizations who intervened in the case as third parties (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Asociación de Vecinos de La Boca, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Asociación Ciudadana por los Derechos Humanos and Greenpeace and the National Ombudsman. The Ombudsman shall be in charge of coordinating the Collegiate Body, which shall be aimed at funneling citizenship participation in controlling the program’s compliance The National General Auditing Office shall monitor funds allocation and budget implementation. The Basin Authority shall be in charge of applying daily fines stemming from non-completion of timelines

STEP 4: Enforcement of the Ruling

Actions and omissions in its execution

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Ruling Enforcement Compliance with the ruling issued by the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice (CSJN) began a few days after its publication in the Federal Court of Quilmes. On July 23rd, 2008, the first hearing was held with the attendance of representatives of ACUMAR, of the sued jurisdictions, of the National Government agencies’ officials involved in the Clean-Up Plan, and of the entities appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor the ruling’s effective compliance. Said hearing served to establish the guiding criteria for the enforcement process, among them:

• The creation of a special Secretariat under the scope of the Federal Court of Quilmes, which shall be entitled to hear all questions of the proceedings.

• Based on the powers conferred by Article 32 of the General Environmental Law Nº°

25.675 and by Article 36 of the National Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure and, with the purpose of preserving the framework of a bilateral process, the Judge stated that the parties to the case shall be ACUMAR and the Ombudsman’s Office.

• The court instructed ACUMAR to inform the Federal Court on all the sessions to be held 3 days in advance and to submit the agenda thereof

• As regards, each timeline set forth in the ruling, ACUMAR shall inform the Federal Court on the degree of progress thereof within 15 days prior to the corresponding timeline.

ACUMAR has duly informed on that actions conducted regarding each of the procedural acts stated hereinabove, and the enforcement judge has requested the Ombudsman to issue a pronouncement in each case. One of the most concerning issues encountered by the authorities, as from the publication of the Court’s ruling, was the timelines set forth therein, for deeming them insufficient and difficult to meet. Such concern was informed by the former Secretary of the Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat and ACUMAR president, Romina Picolotti in the aforementioned hearing. She further expressly informed the enforcement judge about the need to relax timelines imposed by the Supreme Court. On this matter, the enforcement judge stated that timelines imposed by the Supreme Court cannot be modified, and that such modification shall be discussed by all parties in each case. The abovementioned is a key aspect, since timelines imposed by the Supreme Court are part of a mechanism, where each timeline is a sequence of actions aimed at reaching the restoration of the basin deterioration. Such dynamics of mandates and stipulated timelines is complemented by hearings with the parties convened by the judge in order to define those timelines not included in the ruling and to learn about the progress of certain activities. To such extent, hearings were held for authorities to inform on the progress of sewage sanitation works and on the leather industries relocation project. Actions conducted by the Collegiate Body Simultaneously with the commencement of proceedings and, as requested by the Supreme Court’s ruling, the National Ombudsman and the NGOs admitted as Third Parties created the Collegiate Body of the Sanitation Control Plan and started functioning upon the adoption of the Body’s internal bylaws.

The aforementioned body has a very specific purpose; to strengthen and to promote citizenship participation in the enforcement of the ruling. Such purpose is met by its two major functions:

1. Promotion of actions aimed at expanding and creating citizen awareness regarding the serious situation of the Basin.

2. Representation of the public interest in the ruling enforcement and monitoring of the compliance of objectives, goals, obligations and timelines imposed by the Court.

In the first months following its creation, the Body mainly focused on the analysis and assessment of the presentations by ACUMAR before the Enforcement Judge, and on deciding upon the adequacy, quality and sufficiency thereof. In such sense, the Collegiate Body has issued an opinion on the activities executed by ACUMAR regarding the inspections conducted in industries, the studies on surface and ground water quality and air quality, the environmental information system, the documents submitted on the adoption of an international objective measurement system, the creation of a socio-demographic map and the surveys on environmental factors posing sanitary risks. In spite of said activities, which were mainly targeted at controlling the ruling’s compliance, the Collegiate Body was not able to conduct significant activities related to promote citizen’s participation and involvement, and to come up with mechanisms for receiving reports and suggestions on the different problems affecting the Basin. Notwithstanding the above mentioned, it should be highlighted that the activity carried out by the Collegiate Body does not have resources specifically allotted for such purpose. The Supreme Court ordered its creation without providing for resources necessary to fund its adequate functioning, so the Body’s members work ad-honorem. Despite the aforementioned, lack of resources, sooner or later, shall hurdle the intended controlling task.

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SAyDS Sanitation Plan As from the request by the Supreme Court on June 20, 2006, SAyDS drafted and submitted the Integrated Environmental Clean-up Plan (Plan Integral de Saneamiento de la Cuenca Matanza-Riachuelo, PSICMR) The submitted plan was harshly criticized by most of the parties to the case, which prompted the Supreme Court to convene an Interdisciplinary Body of Specialized Experts from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) to analyze its feasibility. The UBA expert’s conclusion stated that the PSICMR presented several deficiencies which rendered its application unfeasible. NGOs stated, in accordance with several conflicting issues defined by the Expert’s Body’, that the PSICMR presented several problems which endangered its implementation and rendered it invalid as a technical management instrument, since, according to NGOs:

• The plan lacks a comprehensive target. Its structure resembles a compendium and reorganization of documents and proposals, some of which have been previously considered or are being implemented at various governmental levels.

• There is no approach as to future scenarios, or visions of the basin to be agreed upon within the Plan’s framework, unless it explains how such scenario could be projected to the future.

• Different versions were submitted and none of them included the definition of a Plan consolidated structure, and there is no classification or hierarchy of the existing problems in the Basin.

• No indicators have been defined to objectively verify the degree of progress of the proposed actions.

• The Plan is not structured according to a logical function towards the achievement of the set objectives.

• There is no balance in the way the different components, programs and activities are addressed.

• There is no identification as to those responsible for implementing each component/program’s actions.

• Execution timelines are inconsistent. • Health is not considered one of the “milestones of the plan”; it does not include a

diagnosis on the sanitary situation, or epidemiologic studies whatsoever, which enable to differentiate air, soil and water pollution caused diseases from other affections not caused by said factors.

• There is no specification as to the sum allocated to Health, or as to the investments schedule.

• The information submitted in relation to the composition of industrial facilities in the Basin is deemed interim information, and there is no quote from reliable statistics sources.

• Sources used in the elaboration of the plan refer to figures, estimates and studies which do not reflect the Basin’s current condition The Sanitation Plan is a key tool for the basin’s management, involving a multiplicity of stakeholders such as; governmental parties from different branches and levels, control bodies, private sector, civil society and mainly the citizens. In such sense, it is crucial that the Government may design a technically sound plan, fully supported by all actors involved, which shall become the guiding principle of a Government Policy for the Riachuelo. Furthermore, the PSICMR should be formulated in a clear and understandable way from the technical standpoint, so that the average public may understand it. The clarity as to the design and communication is key for securing that citizens may apprehend such plan and thus help control the compliance of each action taken by the different responsible authorities.

Within such context, ACUMAR is called to revise the adopted plan, so as to clarify its structure, define, with sufficient precision and grounds, the principles for the environmental and human rights protection; and to state the criteria to impose intervention priorities, and adapt its programs and components according to the achievement of the set goals and to the actions ordered by the Court.

The role of ACUMAR One of the unique characteristics of the Matanza- Riachuelo Basin- apart from its high levels of pollution- is its institutional fragmentation; whereas there are 17 coexisting districts, 29 bodies have jurisdiction over them, and over fifty regulations may be applied. In practice, this has been regarded as a kind of “judicial embarrassment"F

14F that caused serious

difficulties and limitations in the police power of each jurisdiction, for coordination instances aimed at solving the already stated institutional difficulties never arouse. ACUMAR was created with purpose of overcoming CMR jurisdictional fragmentation, generating better coordination between the competent authorities, strengthening the police power on polluting activities and redressing both overlapping and contradiction between applicable norms and regulations. Unlike what happened with other bodies and programs previously created for the CMR remediation- as the Executing Committee for the CMR- ACUMAR was granted powers to regulate, control and intervene in terms of natural resources prevention, sanitation, restoration and sensible management. ACUMAR is furthermore empowered to take preventive measures immediately after being notified - be it directly, indirectly or by an accusation- of a situation of risk to the environment or to the human health of the basin’s population.

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In the same breath, the law establishes the following powers regarding environmentally impactful activities:

• Coordination: between the different state scopes, it will have preeminence over local competencies. • Execution: it will be entitled to adopt any convenient or necessary measure for the basin sanitation and to manage the funds and budget. • Regulation and Control targeted at:

o Unifying the regulations concerning liquid effluents and gaseous emissions. o Planning environmental territorial guidelines o Setting forth and collecting fees for rendered services o Adopt its own organizational bylaws o Establish a special administrative process o Applying preventive measures o Intervening in municipal permits, audits, controls, EIA, F

15Fsanctions

o Issuing warnings, summons and inspections. o Ordering closures, confiscations and cessation of deleterious activities. Pursuant to the above stated aspects, the body unified the admissible limits for liquid effluent load within the scope of the basin area as well as the air quality admissible parameters and concentrations. Furthermore, it adopted measures and preventive closures on different industrial facilities. The creation of a basin authority with interjurisdictional nature is a vital requirement for executing a policy aimed at restoring and restructuring the CMR- an issue recognized as well by the Supreme Court when it determined that ACUMAR is the main accountable body for the effective enforcement of the obligations resulting from the ruling A number of achievements during ACUMAR administration can be highlighted, among them are:

• The start of monitoring activities in the industrial facilities located in the CMR.

• Strengthening of the Police powers through the incorporation of inspectors fully involved in the CMR and the supply of material resources, mainly automobiles. • The adoption of a Convergence Document between the AySA Master Plan and the “Comprehensive Environmental Sanitation Plan” adopted by ACUMAR”, by virtue of which, the water and sewage service provider in AMBA (Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area) was compelled to revise and adapt its Master Plan to the CMR restructuring needs, since the reduction of the pollution levels in the Riachuelo had not been considered vital in its original version.

Nevertheless, some organizations duly pointed out that the institutional design selected by ACUMAR was not the most adequate to reaching coordination and control among jurisdictions, since the creation of a Basin body should be in accordance with an interjurisdictional treaty, pursuant to the first paragraph of Section 124 of the Argentine National Constitution, observing the distribution of competences and not by means of the finally adopted Agreement LawF

16 Such fault has become evident due to the fact that ACUMAR has been unable to be up to the role of interjurisdictional coordinator for which it was created. This became clear in July, 2007 when the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires officially informed that it was not represented by this body, which was also mentioned in a formal presentation before the CSJN. This situation remains unchanged. It is observed that every jurisdiction will continue conducting activities separately, independently and, at times, without coordination with the rest.

Even when the passed time is not sufficiently long to draw conclusions on the CMR Sanitation management, a number of conclusions concerning ACUMAR compliance with the mandates imposed by the Court can be made. In that sense, we observe that:

• Whereas it is evident that the interjurisdictional agency has exerted efforts to obey the program provided for in the court ruling, it has not fully complied with any of the obligations provided for therein. • There was a limited and/ or biased interpretation of the mandates ordered in the Court judgment, thus further distorting the ruling scope. • There are attempts to comply with procedural terms provided for in the ruling, by accepting actions not provided for by the Court.

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UBibiloni and NGOs (Extracts written by Dr.Homero Bibiloni, Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation, in defense of Buenos Aires municipalities before the CSJN before taking office). (page 90) “In this case, where the environmental interests of five million inhabitants are at stake, some neighbors and six organizations named by the Court as third parties interested in the process (FARN, CELS Foundations, Greenpeace Foundation, The Citizen Power Foundation (La Fundación Poder Ciudadano), the Citizen Association for Human Rights (la Asociación Ciudadana por los Derechos Humanos) and the La Boca Neighbors Assosiation (la Asoc. Vecinos de la Boca), aim at arrogating the representation of all and each of these five million people. In the face of such an intention, it should be asked if said organizations really stand for the interests they claim to defend, for there is an overlapping between these neighbors rights and an incidental class action-all under the "environmental" umbrella. … In this specific case, the interests at stake are exhorbitant, since they comprise not only the protection of environmental rights (would this be the substance of the matter?) but also a social issue that brings to light entire years of a policy based on the fact that the urgent never left space for the important. This would be, in other words, the theory of the "short blanket" (as a never sufficient fact). It is within this context where some relieve to deploy an epic struggle between good and evil (the latter being characterized by the public, at least from compensation perspective), by tutoring the interests of citizens from 14 municipalities which can be diverse and speaking on behalf of those people who will have different interests. It is here, thus, where the correct representation of some organizations is doubted. (Page 103): “Stocks acquisition from foundations is often part of a strategy targeted at moving resources to sustain their undertakings, posing legal, social and economic questionings (Greenpeace is a stockholder of Petrolera Shell ,which has environmental conflicts worldwide, as

• It is intended that activities are regarded as implemented only by evidencing that the public auction processes are underway, or by establishing those guidelines needed to execute them. • Technical data is disorderly provided, without specifying either the procedures or estimates by means of which such information was reached. This turns the control of the administrative activity impossible.

Another aspect on which ACUMAR has not evidenced positive results has been the integration of municipalities - which constitute a territorial and political unity of paramount importance to govern and manage the basin destiny. CMR reality is built with decisions made day by day in local territories. In this sense, the municipalities have a great responsibility regarding open air dumpsites management, which, as we have mentioned, are one of the three CMR polluting sources. The accomplishment of measures such as dumpsites elimination, healthcare services, water networks extension and citizen involvement can be hardly guaranteed without an active role from municipalities.

Such aspects make the municipalities main role players of an administration aiming at reconstructing and restoring the CMR. This was pointed by the Enforcement Judge, Dr Armella in different ACUMAR meetings, where he made clear his intention to know the level of commitment and involvement of Mayors in the Sanitation plan, as well as his concern in their apparent lack of interest in the process. Due to that, the need to integrate municipalities to decision making processes by ACUMAR has turned into a key factor, being such an issue relegated since the basin body creation. The situation appears to have changed since Homero Bibiloni became the chairman of SAyDS. He has declared that during his administration, municipalities will have a key role in the basin authority performance, and many collaboration agreements and agreements in principle have been signed. And, even if it is true that municipalities’ integration and coordination of initiatives under the scope of CMR is important, it should not be forgotten that they are accountable for the existing contamination. In view of this, the something worth remembering is that the current President of ACUMAR served as defense counsel of the 14 sued municipalities in the case "Mendoza". In the case, he manifested that the respondents were not be held responsible for the serious CMR deterioration. Such arguments were repeated more than once by Dr. Homero Bibiloni once he became the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation and President of ACUMAR- what leads us to wonder what will happen with ACUMAR administration if its president considers that municipalities have no responsibility for the existing degradation within their jurisdictions. In summary, ACUMAR has failed to comply with the role of coordinating body for which it was created, for each jurisdiction continues developing its competent actions, individually, independently and with no coordination with the rest. Furthermore, ACUMAR maintains an erratic attitude- its promises and announcements have constantly varied since the beginning of the process. The lack of execution and/ or delay in promised works lay in a context where the works plan reveals a remarkable informality and has no mechanisms to demand either its execution or deadline.

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One of Shell

downloads in Rio de la Plata. Avellaneda, one of the municipalities defended by Homero Bibiloni before

CSJN.

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Participation and information Public involvement is a critical component in the environmental debate and in the sustainable development. A number of international agreements, declarations and action plans have highlighted the importance and the need of moving towards a sustainable development through citizen involvementF

17F.

On the path towards participative democracy, access to appropriate information becomes a crucial requirement to take part in governmental actions from society. Section 4°, Law 26,168 set forth the creation, within ACUMAR scope, of a Social Participation Committee formed by organizations with interests in the area and with consultative functions.F

18 The Court supports such instance by granting the collegiate body the faculty of fostering citizen involvement in controlling the ruling’s compliance. Upon the adoption of said regulation, ACUMAR called upon, pursuant to Appendix V of the Decree 1172/03, a process of Participated Elaboration for the design of the “Operative bylaws of the Social Participation Committee”; such task was adjourned for over a year, until it was finally adopted through ACUMAR Resolution 5/2007. By and large, the bylaws set forth the creation of a registry of organizations under the scope of ACUMAR General Secretariat and; they further define the Committee functioning, which participates only with consultative purposes through regular and special sessions. Regular sessions will be aimed at the promotion, consulting, formation, exchange and strengthening of the Sanitation Plan, while the latter are held to hear specific matters. In the same breath, the municipal, the transversal and the interjurisdictional areas were created, where involvement of the registered organizations will be summoned. Apart from the already stated, ACUMAR has carried out almost no activity to integrate citizenship involvement in the Sanitation Plan. In fact, and as stated in its website, since August 2006 only two open meetings were held with the social organizations working at the basin. Besides, after the adoption of the operative bylaws of the Social Participation Committee only one meeting was held in the municipal area, in September 2008, with La Matanza neighbors and organizations. Likewise, a second meeting was to be held in December 2008, but it was suspended by the authorities and a new date for its realization was not set forth. It becomes evident that citizen participation is not part of ACUMAR priorities, which remarkably contrasts with the measures taken by the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the involvement mentioned ACUMAR’s regulatory law cannot be replaced by any other instance, as could be the Collegiate Body created by the CSJN, whose purpose is fostering the citizen involvement to strengthen the ruling control mechanisms, while the law aims at introducing the vision of those citizens, neighbors and affected people regarding the decisions that will conform the sanitation plan management.

Reality does not allow us to have great expectations of change, for the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development (presiding ACUMAR) has publicly manifested that ONGs lack legitimacy to defend the basin inhabitants’ interests and that information and participation access systems claimed by these organizations are unlikely to be implemented, for that would contradict the need to implement urgent measures to mitigate the serious situation of the CMR inhabitants. Nor can we avoid being critic in issues related to the information. The possibility to access public information is an essential resource by which citizens can exercise their fundamental rights and constitutes a “sine qua non" requisite to adequately participate in all the decision making processes. Therefore, the ruling provided for a number of measures urging the National Government to produce and spread information and aimed at expanding citizenship involvement. In that sense, it orders the creation of system of public information, containing updated, detailed and compacted data which is clear and accessible for the public in general. ACUMAR made no progress regarding such issue. On a first stage, its sole attempt to comply with the obligation of adopting an information system was just to create a simple webpage with fragmented, disorganized and messy information. However, in a recent presentation before Quilmes Federal Court, it manifested that it is working on "a conceptual framework and on a proposal of an information system for the basin" which, if implemented, it might improve the current situation. Such system would contribute to better understand which the potential actions would be and how they would be implemented by the authorities to satisfy the objectives set by the Court. This becomes essential for the control and follow up conducted by the authorities, the parties, the judicial branch and the society.

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Sewage sanitation works The lack of sewage and adequate treatment of sewage effluents constitute one of the most important contaminating sources in the Riachuelo. In view of that, both in the Court hearings and in the official published documents, ACUMAR and AySA authorities have explained that the solution to the problem of sewage effluents that are currently discharged inadequately and without limits into the Riachuelo and its affluents requires the realization a complex network. The former Secretariat of Environment Romina Picolotti stated in the hearings that 100% (the total) of the Basin inhabitants will be benefitted through the work projected in the PSICMR (Integrated Environmental Clean-up Plan) and that organic contamination, one of the major sources of pollution in the CMR, will be solved. For that, the national government requested funding from the World Bank, such initiative was headed by the SAyDS with the aim of getting a U$S 640 million credit. According to the information provided by the World Bank, the intended works would be divided into two phases. First phase:

• The construction of a "Left margin collector” interceptor, which would receive most of the sewage effluents coming from CABA (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires). This would alleviate Berazategui Plant, allowing its sewage networks to extend to the south (Lanus, Lomas de Zamora, Esteban Echeverria and Almirante Brown municipalities). • The construction of a Primary Treatment Plant and an effluent Elevation Plant in Dock Sud area.

• A submarine Emissary in the Rio de la Plata that will generate a final discharge of the collected liquid.

Second phase:

• Effluents Collector system over the left margin. Previously, since the signing of the Convergence document between ACUMAR and AYSA in 2008, the proposal was to build a Right Collector Margin so that all the loads the Riachuelo receives from the Southwest and Jaguel were transferred to the Capital treatment plant.

• Pumping and emissary station Berazategui • Coastal Collector from La Boca to San Isidro

By March 2009 none of the works had been executed and most of them had not even been initiated. The only two works that have advanced are those related with the southwest plant (Aldo Bonzi) expansion and the sewage collector that would allow extending La Matanza faclities. The contract for the souwest plant expansion was signed in October 2007. However, the work did not start until May 2008 and, by March 2009, its execution has scarcely reached 17%. Furthermore, nothing is informed about Riachuelo or Capital plant, or the pilot plant which, according to that stated by the SAyDS before the CSJN, should have been finished by 2007. Besides, nothing is stated about either the left or the right margin collectors. Furthermore, ACUMAR maintains an erratic attitude- its promises and announcements have constantly varied since the beginning of the process. The lack of execution and/ or the delay in committed works lay in a context where the working plan reveals a remarkable informality and has no mechanisms to demand either its execution or deadline. Nor have the economic resources been guaranteed. Although a document between AySA and ACUMAR was signed to agree on the works to be done, it is necessary to come up with the design of a system allowing the networks extension and the adequate treatment of the effluents to avoid a greater harm to the Riachuelo or to transfer the Rio de la Plata contamination. In the same breath, no sewage sanitation program compatible with the environmental sanitation goals set by the Court has been created to date. Finally, it should be noted that, according to Law 26.221 adopting the AySA regulatory framework and its regulatory decree 763/07, that company should be included in that contract. Nevertheless, the contract was never signed and progress has been made on work plans without giving civil society the chance to participate. In fact, the bodies that should intervene in such plan by law have not been formed.

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USTEP 5: UAssessment and Citizen Control

World Water Day 2009: An assessment after 9 months of CSJN case (Document)F

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Nine months after of the Court ruling and in the World water Day, the Collegiate Body assessed the course of the Plan for the Restructuring of the Matanza Riachuelo Basin ruled by the Supreme Court of the Nation.

National Government obligations: On the past March 8, nine months passed since the Court rendered judgment in the Matanza Riachuelo case. In that period the Matanza Riachuelo Basin Authority should have complied with the following judicial orders: UTo control industry originated pollution:

1. To inspect all the industries located in the Basin. 2. To adopt a resolution identifying all those industries polluting the basin, compelling them to carry out an industrial restructuring.

To know the basin environmental state:

3. To submit quarterly reports on the basin air quality. 4. To submit quarterly reports on the basin water quality.

To ensure environmental public information:

5. Information on the basin industries, pollutants types, water and air quality, Sanitation Plan progress, sewage and water works schedules, budgets and emergency sanitation plan execution should be available on the internet, thus providing a system of public information.

To control the compliance of the Plan and Program ordered:

6. To establish a system to measure the progress of the goals compliance ruled by the Court: To improve the inhabitants’ life quality, to restore the basin’s environment and to prevent future damage.

To avoid dumps contamination: (1 year duration at most)

7. To implement a program to avoid new open air dumps. 8. To adopt actions aiming at avoiding illegal residues discharged into open air dumps.

Concerning health and life quality.

9. To provide a housing solution to people living in dumps. 10. To create a socio-demographic map and a survey on environmental risk factors. 11. To assess the at-risk basin population. 12. To diagnose the diseases present in the basin, distinguishing those originated by environment pollution from the others. 13. To establish a register and a public database with the diseases present in the basin. 14. To establish a system to follow up affected neighbors.

Institutional framework

15. ACUMAR functioning.

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Sanitation infrastructure

16. Extension of Sanitation networks and of environmental protection.

The effectively achieved The Collegiate Body has taken the role of controlling the Plan compliance according to that ruled by the Supreme Court. After carrying out an assessment of each of ACUMAR actions, the Collegiate Body issued its pronouncement in five judicial writs and in a public report six months after the judgment. From these opinions, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. ACUMAR neither inspected all the industries nor did it establish a clear plan to carry it out.

The government registers include 4.103 industries. However, other sources report that there are between 12.000 and 15.000 industries in the basin. To the present day, only a few of the 4.103 registered industries have been inspected. Due to this incompliance, the Collegiate Body demanded the application of a penalty to the president of ACUMAR. The Enforcement Judge compelled ACUMAR to continue with the inspections until all industrial facilities existing in the basin have been duly inspected (Resolution from 10/20/2008, sub-paragraph II.)

2. The regulation adopted by ACUMAR does not suffice to meet the environmental restoration objective ruled by the Court.

This regulation lacks a sound environmental basis. It does not observe heavy metals currently polluting the basin. It holds AySA harmless, despite the fact that it is the main responsible for the discharged to the River. (2m3/s) The Collegiate Body demanded a new regulation, which is currently pending.

3. ACUMAR only complied with the submission of the first report, which was due on 09/05/08 but lasted 7 months instead of the 30 days that had been fixed. The Collegiate Body acknowledges an effort during that period to correct the stated observations. It should be noted that data has to be updated on a quarterly basis and up to now ACUMAR has only informed the first campaign results (April-June 2008) and has not submitted the reports concerning December 2008 and March 2009.

4. Up to date, ACUMAR has not measured the air quality. Thus, the application of fines has been constantly requested since September 25, 2008.

5. ACUMAR public information only consists of a separate website for every jurisdiction. A real information system was not conformed. ACUMAR presented a first draft for the design of indicators measurement system whose implementation has not progressed so far.

6. So far, ACUMAR has failed to develop a system to measure the progress of that requested by the Court. Such failure hinders compliance control by the Judge, the society and the Organization in itself.

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7. & 8. The requested programs have not been implemented. ACUMAR submitted a survey on dump sites and a work program forecasting activities up to 2015- a timeline which contradicts the one set forth in the Court’s ruling. In view of this, fines applications were requested and are still awaiting judicial resolution.

9. ACUMAR has not relocated the people living in the dump sites areas. This emergency situation has been neglected. In view of this, it was requested that fines were applied for non-compliance; such request is still awaiting judicial resolution.

10. and 11. ACUMAR complied with two vital demands- the survey and the socio-demographic map. The Collegiate Body determined that those two elements were not conclusive evidence to establish the at risk population and informed that improvements had to be made. The Judge urged ACUMAR to consider the observations.

12. 13 and 14. Compliance with these mandates is yet to be observed. ACUMAR reported that doing so implied to first carry out a survey on risk environmental factors. Nevertheless, such survey has already been completed.

15. In its assessments, the Collegiate Body also identified performance deficits on the part of the Basin Authority. ACUMAR has failed to comply with the role of coordinating body for which it was created, for each jurisdiction continues developing its competent actions, individually, independently and with no coordination with the rest. The Social Participation Committee is disarticulated, which certainly prevents citizenship from participating on ACUMAR decisions.

16. ACUMAR maintains an erratic attitude- its promises and announcements have constantly varied since the beginning of the process. The lack of execution and/ or delay in projected works lay in a context where the working plan reveals a remarkable informality and has no mechanisms to demand either its execution or deadline. Nor have the economic resources been guaranteed.

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Despite the signing of a document between AySA and ACUMAR to agree on the works to be executed, the system design enabling both the extension of networks and the adequate effluents treatment to avoid a greater environmental damage to the Riachuelo, and the transfer of such pollution to the Rio de la Plata has not been designed yet. Up to date, there is not a sewage program compatible with the environmental remediation ordered by the Court. Collegiate Body proposals To sum up, there are more irregularities than actions, with unseen resuls. In view of the Basin Authority incompliance of most of the Court rulings, the Collegiate Body reaffirms the need that such ruling is strictly observed and that non-compliance sanctions provided for in the ruling are imposed. Furthermore, it proposes: Regarding the industrial pollution control:

1. Complete the basin industries inspections, not only those registered by ACUMAR, but also those unregistered and illegal industrial facilities.

2. The identification of sectors and of the 100 most polluting industries in the CMR- (30 - day term).-

3. The Creation of a Single Public Registry of Hazardous Substances Emissions for the entire industrial sector of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin accessible to the public through the internet.

4. Setting of a Progressive Plan for reducing hazardous emissions and effluents to 50% within 5 years (such as Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb))

5. Total cessation of hazardous emissions contained in air, water, Industrial Solid Residues and products in the Matanza Riachuelo Basin for the year 2020.

Regarding the social and housing emergency: The sanitary condition of the basin inhabitants has to be immediately addressed. Until long and medium term measures are definitely taken, the problems of the most affected areas have to be urgently addressed (for example: Villa Inflamable, Villa 26 (Lujan neighborhood), Villa 21-24, Presidente Uriburu settlement or las Viboras stream in Gonzalez Catan. Taking health centers, soup kitchens, work cooperatives and schools as a benchmark, the access of pollsters, doctors, sanitation experts and social workers who may conduct a population census, determine ages, meet their basic needs and address pollution consequences should be ensured. The population in critical environments has the right to live in a healthy area, and the authorities are obliged to provide whatever is necessary to guarantee this right. Thus, the development of a Social Participation Committee is vital.

ACUMAR has to point out those dumpsites with poor settlements and carry out a survey to develop an urgent solution. We demand the establishment of a schedule for the relocation of affected people to decent houses, in consultation with them and ensuring their participation in decisions. Regarding the obligations to extend the Water and Sewage facilities: To demand definition and identification of the system of works needed to comply with the Court ruling and to set a schedule for its execution, people in charge and the respective financing sources. To urge that the Riachuelo receiving capacity to receive current and future sewage discharges is observed and to demand the protection of aquifers and of the Rio de la Plata environment To request that AySA coordinated works become part of the company contractual liabilities as a service licensee.

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ACUMAR: an erratic body without leadership From the assessment carried out by the Collegiate Body, it becomes evident that the authority in charge of directing and coordinating the efforts in the Basin sanitation plan, ACUMAR, has serious weaknesses. The good development of this body and its leadership capacity are a necessary condition to satisfy the objectives set by the CSJN judgment. Thus, it is necessary to highlight the errors which have to be addressed and reverted by ACUMAR. Some of the most important are: • ACUMAR has to revise and redesign the sanitation plan originally submitted to the CJSN to clarify its structure, defining precisely and with sufficient grounds the principles for the protection of the environment and the human rights, ensuring the criteria to establish intervention priorities and making its programs and components consistent with the compliance of the objectives determined by the ruling and the tasks the Court has ordered. • ACUMAR has failed to failed to comply with the role of coordinating body for which it was created, for each jurisdiction continues developing its competent actions, individually, independently and often with no coordination with the rest. • ACUMAR maintains an erratic attitude- its promises and announcements have constantly varied since the beginning of the process. The lack of execution and/ or delay in promised works lay in a context where the working plan reveals a remarkable informality and has no mechanisms to demand either its execution or deadline. • It becomes evident that citizen participation is not one of the ACUMAR priorities- thus remarkably contradicting the Court’s ruling. • As regards sewage sanitation, ACUMAR maintains an erratic attitude- its promises and announcements have constantly varied since the beginning of the process. The lack of execution and/ or delay in promised actions lay in a context where the working plan reveals a remarkable informality and has no mechanisms to demand either execution or deadline. Nor have the economic resources been guaranteed. An aspect revealing ACUMAR lack of leadership and execution is the scarce use of assigned budget resources. A report by APOC (Control Agencies Workers Association) states that between January and the beginning of March 2009, ACUMAR did not invest anything in the sanitation of the most contaminated course of water, although it has 135,4 million pesos for this, 70% more than last yearF

20F.

APOC reveals that “the Riachuelo environmental management program is financed by a loan granted by the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) signed in 1998. However, as those resources are not being executed, the Argentine government has been paying "compromise comissions" for over a decade. That is to say, it pays for the funds it does not spend. Furthermore, in 2009, ACUMAR has failed to comply with the Court decision ordering the design of a basin restoration plan”.

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This situation was repeated in 2008, since, during the first eleven months it was sub-executed in 65%. As of 2009, this program, renamed program 39, fell under the management of the Matanza Riachuelo Basin Authority (ACUMAR) and its budget was incremented by 70% (current loans for $79.7 million in 2008 to $135.4 million in 2009). However, after more than two months, this program spent $0, that is, a sub-execution of 100%. This program is financed by the remainder of the Inter American Development Bank loan (BID 1059). For over a decade, and since it was granted, it has paid “compromise commissions” for the non use of the resources made available by the IADB.

Year 2008 Current: $ 79,748.958 Accrued: $ 28,304.973 Executed: 35%

Year 2009 Current: $ 135,352.426 Accrued: $ 0 Executed: 0%

“Business as Usual” in the Riachuelo 2009 Greenpeace Sampling In order to have a clearer vision of the consequences of incidental policies implemented in relation to hazardous substances in the CMR which are responsible for the pollution found in the water and in the mud, Greenpeace conducted samplings of specific discharges which had been analyzed and reported years before. Unfortunately, results show that in this specific matter, administrations have once again failed to compel companies to stop toxic discharges into water bodies, and the situation did nothing but worsen to the detriment of the environment and public health. Only a button is necessary to have a sample, thus, Greenpeace decided to find out about the situation of companies and places where highly polluting discharges had been detected and reported some years ago in the CMR. Among the identified compounds, some proved to be carcinogenic, neurotoxic, and hazardous for the reproductive system for the liver and for the kidneys. The comparison was based upon samples taken in 1997/1998 and 2009. In the case of the discharge sample taken near Américo Gaita Company, located in Lanús, and of the sample taken in the GRD tannery, in Avellaneda, there are also results of samples taken in 2000. In February 2009, Greenpeace took samples of liquid discharges and their associated sedimentsF

21F in five spots where there are discharges into the Matanza-Riachuelo River and its

affluentsF

22F.

Those samples were analyzed at the Greenpeace Laboratory at Dexter University, England. Heavy metals were analyzed quantitatively and organic compounds were analyzed qualitatively, thus enabling having information as to the presence of a much wider spectrum of compounds than those generally measured). The analyzed spots sampled in 2009 are the same than those reported and analyzed by Greenpeace years ago.

Case Study 1: GRD Tannery, Avellaneda district This tannery discharges its effluents, at least partially, in front of Puente Victorino de la Plaza (Victorino de la Plaza Bridge), by the Riachuelo riverbank. This place had already been analyzed and reported by Greenpeace back in 1997/98 and in 2000. In 2009, effluents and sediments samples showed that there are still discharges of alquilbenzenes, chlorobenzenes, a phenolic derivative known as BHT among others. Furthermore, nonylphenol was detected for the first time in such discharges. It was further discovered that chromium discharges into the Riachuelo from the industrial facility occur in high levels (5,300 micrograms of chromium per liter in the effluent and 10,300 milligrams per kg of dry weight of the sediments) and take place in the open air, even when authorities are fully aware of this situation. Case Study 2: Discharge into Arroyo del Rey, Lomas de Zamora district It is a discharge into Arroyo del Rey, Lomas de Zamora district at the crossing with Garibaldi Street, in Llavallol. It is extremely disturbing to find out, a decade later, that the pesticide Hexachlorocyclohexane and a long list of chlorinated organic compounds such as chlorobenzenes (including hexachlorobenzene) are still being discharged into the CMR. Among detected substances found in the sediment associated with this discharge, DDT and its metabolites DDD and DDE were found again. Case Study 3: Discharge into Riachuelo River, by the Mann-Hummel company, Lanús district.

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39

This is a direct discharge into Riachuelo stemming from Lanús by the Mann-Hummel company. Analyses performed in 2009 reveal the discharge of substances such as: chlorobenzenes, toluene, xilene, alkybenzenes, carbon tetrachlorine, and other organohalogen organic compounds. Analyses performed in 1997/98 revealed a single long-chain hydrocarbon, thus showing an increasingly complex structure of effluents entering the basin from that source point. Case Study 4: Discharge into Riachuelo River, near the tannery Américo Gaita, Lanús district. Chromium concentrations in the effluents samples taken in 1997/1998 were the highest (1,590 micrograms of chromium per effluent liter) as against samples taken in 2000 and 2009 (464 micrograms per liter). Nevertheless, from the 2000 sample until the current one, chromium levels in effluents doubled. As regards associated sediments, 2009 samples reflect higher chromium levels which are five times higher than the 1997/98 levels. Case Study 5: Discharge by Chemotecnica Syntial, Ezeiza district. Samples taken from Chemotecnica Syntial discharges in 2009 present a different structure from the ones taken in 1997/98. In the past, organic compounds were mainly hydrocarbons associated to oil pollution. In 2009 samples, there is a higher number of halogenated organic compounds such as bromodichloromethane, dichlorobenzene, (in the sediments) and chloroform, as well as the herbicide atrazine. As regards heavy metals, the samples showed an increase of zinc and copper in the sediments, which may be observed by analyzing the per year discharges of heavy metals into the environment. Zinc widely doubled and copper concentration is over 30 times higher. Summary of the consequences of some of the chemical compounds discharged into the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin F

23 ChlorobenzeneF

24 It may affect the liver, the kidneys and the nervous system. There is evidence that it may be carcinogenic. Hexaclorociclohexano (isomers combination)F

25 It affects the liver and the kidneys. Some isomers may affect the nervous system and the sexual hormones level. They have been classified as a possible and probable (according to the isomer) cause of cancer in humans. DDTF

26 It may affect the nervous, the reproductive system and the adrenal gland. It was classified as human carcinogenic. It penetrates the placenta and may be present in human milk.

40

HCBF

27 The hexachlorobenzene is a potencial human carcinogen and once it enters the body, it is stored in fatty tissue and may reach the developing baby through the placenta or the breastfed infant. It may affect the hormonal system. Carbon TetrachlorineF

28 It may affect the kidneys, the liver and nerve cells. In animals it is associated with loss of fertility. ChromiumF

29F

It may affect the respiratory system when inhaled. It may damage the stomach and cause anemia. In animals, it may affect fertility. Hexavalent chromium is carcinogenic.

AtrazineF

30 Many available studies suggest that atrazine may affect pregnant women delaying the baby normal growth or causing premature deliveries. It may affect the liver, the kidney, the heart and alter hormonal system, as well. Zinc F

31 Despite being necessary in small doses, like trivalent chromium, it may be harmful in high doses, causing anemia and pancreatic injuries. ToluenF

32F

It may affect the brain and the kidneys. Some studies associate it with reproduction, liver and kidneys damage. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)F

33 It has been associated with certain allergic reactions and evidences have been found that, combined with other carcinogenic substances, it may cause liver cancer. NonilfenolF

34 It is associated with problems in the reproductive system and may alter the estrogen hormone. Conclusion

Although it is not surprising that the Matanza- Riachuelo basin is affected by a high level of deterioration due to industrial and sewage effluents, it is appalling to discover that despite the years passed, the funds requested to the Inter American Development bank and the different administrations, those responsible for the discharges have not stopped doing so, as though nothing has changed. Despite time, reports, the suffering of the Basin inhabitants, the funds invested in meetings, workshops and consulting services, the debt undertaken with financing bodies and the comments expressed by the CMR officials, the Matanza- Riachuelo Basin continues receiving highly toxic substances- many of which are so persistent that will remain in the environment even after their discharges have been stopped.F

35 ACUMAR has not proposed the cessation of discharges of hazardous substances; rather, its proposal is targeted at reaching levels that enable the enjoyment of the uses of the basin which may arbitrarily be established. This proposal is unacceptable from the sanitary and environmental perspective in the case of hazardous compounds, and it contradicts the environmental remediation order ruled by the Court, since it just implies keeping pollution at previously and arbitrarily established levels It should be noted that the CMR undergoes such a serious environmental condition that it will be difficult to restore it to an ecological condition, enjoyable by its inhabitants, and that may regain the balance between its environment and its population. Such a serious condition, together with the fact that it is a river located in a plain, extremely slow and often with a scarce flow (nowadays obviously increased by sewage waste discharges), which clearly reflects the lack of natural capacity to dilute the pollution affecting its water courses. Moreover, there are other substances (such as methyl mercury) which may build up in living organisms at levels thousands of times higher than those of the surrounding water. Thus, the fact that they are discharged at hardly permissible levels according to the maximum desired concentration, disregards the possibility of posing a sanitary and environmental risk when such high concentration increases in the tissues of living organisms in the water. We feel that it will not be possible to restore, especially if this does not imply to just move the pollution to another river, unless pollution is stopped. In the case of toxic and hazardous chemicals, this means the cessation of emissions (both to the air and to the soil) of the most concerning compounds from the health and environmental standpoint.

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STEP 6: Adopting a “Zero Discharge” 36Plan F F

reenpeace believes that there must be an overall environmental and urban remediation of the

he environmental and urban remediation of the CMR is an urgent task. The remediation has to

he CMR must stop being a hallmark of contamination and sanitation risks to become a place

GCMR. Over a century of procrastination has led the CMR to a dramatic situation from the sanitation, urban and environmental standpoint; an area with a population of approximately 5 million people which is part of the largest urban conglomerate of the country. Tbe translated into a project unifying the initiative by the National Government, the Province of Buenos Aires, the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the other 14 municipalities that make up the Basin. Such cooperative endeavor has to ensure the economic, political and administrative resources to bring about a change as radical as the one needed in the Basin. Such Remediation Program must be an exemplary case of Environmental Justice. It should include the sanitation of surface water courses, the remediation of polluted soil and groundwater, the elimination of dumpsites the improvement of the habitat conditions, the population access to drinking water and sewage services, and the full technological improvement in the industrial sector under the principle of “Clean production”. Tworth living in. To achieve so, it is necessary to come up with “cleaner” productive processes and to make a correct use of its natural resources. For that to happen, not only should there be a strong political determination, but it is also necessary that such determination is sustained on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, in order to achieve a feasible CMR remediation plan, there must be short, medium and long term objectives and goals, which will constitute the guiding policy to be observed by the different administrations.

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onsequently, Greenpeace proposes the adoption of a plan whose guiding principles must be:

• Clean production for the CMR the entire Basin

In relation to Industrial Contamination, the Plan will seek concentrations in the

of discharges, releases, emissions and losses of hazardous

• Progressively reduce discharges, emissions and loss of all noxious pollutants,

uropean countries, for example, have already undertaken commitments regarding the

he Ministers AGREE that the objective is to ensure a sustainable, sound and healthy

C

• Environmental Remediation for

environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero concentrations for man-made substances and compounds. Therefore, it is necessary to:

• Achieve zero levelssubstancesF

37F, including heavy metals and organohalogen compoundsF

38F, by 2020.

This progressive reduction must be based on the setting of progressive goals which will be met by means of the correct combination of waste generation prevention, products reformulation, clean production techniques, modification of processes or substitution of supplies. In the case of hazardous compounds not easily decomposed, and that, thus, cannot be completely destroyed by non-polluting treatment technologies, the prevailing principle is their substitution. Progressive goals must be set based on the appropriate waste mass balances and on prevention plans for each industrial sector.

including degradable organic matter, potentially eutrophization nutrients (including nitrogen and phosphorous) and other substances which may contribute to the overall demand of oxygen (Biological or Chemical Demand), with the utmost purpose of eliminating such discharges. These reductions must be achieved by the proper combination of waste generation prevention and non-polluting treatment technologies which may enable the total recovery/reuse, recycling, or the destruction of any noxious component.

Eprogressive reduction of hazardous substances, as the only means to improve the quality of sea or river basins.

TNorth Sea ecosystem. The guiding principle for achieving this objective is the precautionary principle. This implies the prevention of the pollution of the North Sea by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances thereby moving towards the target of their cessation within one generation (25 years) with the ultimate aim of concentrations in the environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero concentrations for man-made substances.

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Paragraph 17 of the Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea, June 9, 1995.

“The Ministers of the European Commission, gathered within the scope of the OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic ,…AGREE to prevent marine pollution by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances (i.e. toxic, persistent, or capable of cause bioaccumulation, or those likely to cause a similar concern to the environment) with the ultimate aim of concentrations in the environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero concentrations for man-made synthetic substances.

Sintra Declaration. Signed in Portugal in July, 1998. “Concerning priority hazardous substances, the Commission shall submit proposals of control for:

- The progressive reduction of discharges, emissions and losses of concerned

substances, and, particularly, - The cessation or phasing-out of discharges, emissions and losses of the substances

as identified in accordance with paragraph 3, including an appropriate timetable for doing so. The timetable shall not exceed 20 years after the adoption of these proposals by the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with the provisions of this Article.” Article 16, EU Water Framework Directive

ACUMAR has not proposed the cessation of discharges of hazardous substances; rather, its proposal is targeted at reaching levels that enable the enjoyment of the uses of the basin which may arbitrarily be established. This proposal is unacceptable from the sanitary and environmental perspective in the case of hazardous compounds, and it contradicts the environmental remediation order ruled by the Court, since it just implies keeping pollution at previously and arbitrarily established levels Objective for 2020F

39

45

• Zero discharges emissions and losses of hazardous substances into the Riachuelo.F

40 • Close to zero Discharges, emissions and losses of degradable organic matter, eutrophization nutrients and other substances which may contribute to the increase the OBD (Oxygen Biological Demand) or the OCD (Oxygen Chemical demand). • Zero discharge of sewage into the basin. • 100% drinking water and sewers for all the basin’s inhabitants.

Objective for 2015 • Reduce to 50% discharges, emissions and losses of Chromium (Cr), Cadmium, (Cd), Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb)F

41F, as against 2009 levels.

• Reduce to 50% discharges, emissions and losses of degradable organic matter, eutrophization nutrients and other oxygen-demanding substances as against 2009 levels.

Objective for 2010 • ACUMAR‘s identification of the 100 most polluting industries within the CMR

• The creation of a Single Public Registry of Hazardous Substances Emissions for the entire industrial and service sector of the CMR.

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Appendix I: National Law 26,168 MATANZA-RIACHUELO BASIN ACT Enacted: November 15, 2006 Promulgated: December, 4, 2006 MATANZA-RIACHUELO BASIN ACT CHAPTER I – MATANZA-RIACHUELO BASIN AUTHORITY Creation. ARTICLE 1º — The Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority is hereby created as an interjurisdictional public law agency under the scope of the Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Presidency of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority shall exercise its jurisdiction over the Matanza - Riachuelo Basin area within the scope of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, and the districts of Lanús, Avellaneda, Lomas de Zamora, Esteban Echeverría, La Matanza, Ezeiza, Cañuelas, Almirante Brown, Morón, Merlo, Marcos Paz, Presidente Perón, San Vicente and General Las Heras, of the province of Buenos Aires. Integration. Regulations. ARTICLE 2º — The Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority’s Board of Directors shall be composed of eight members; the Federal Secretary of the Environment and Sustainable Development shall act as president, the other members shall be: THREE (3) other representatives of the National Government, TWO (2) representatives from the Province of Buenos Aires, and TWO (2) from the City of Buenos Aires. The Authority shall issue its own organizational and operational bylaws. ARTICLE 3º — A Municipal Council is hereby created under the Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority. Such Council shall be composed of one representative of each municipality in the basin, whose objective shall be to advise, assist, and cooperate with the entity. Social Participation Commission. ARTICLE 4º — The Social Participation Commission is hereby created under the Matanza - Riachuelo Basin Authority. Such Commission shall have a consultative function, and it shall be composed of representatives of organizations involved in the concerned area. CHAPTER II - COMPETENCE Powers. ARTICLE 5º —- The Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority shall be responsible for the regulation, control, and promotion of industrial activities, for the provision of public services, and for any other activities with an environmental impact on the basin. It may intervene administratively in the areas of prevention, sanitation, remediation, and in the rational use of natural resources. Specifically, the Authority shall be entitled to: a) Unify the regulations applicable to effluent discharges into water receiving bodies and gaseous emissions; b) Plan the environmental guidelines for the basin’s affected territory; c) Set forth and collect fees for rendered services; d) Carry out each and every legal or administrative process necessary or appropriate for the execution of the Comprehensive Pollution Control and Environmental Remediation Plan. e) Manage and administer, as a Central Executing Entity, the funds necessary for the fulfillment of the Comprehensive Pollution Control and Environmental Remediation Plan. Preeminence ARTICLE 6º — The powers, entitlements and competences of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority as refers to the environment, shall prevail over any other concurrent Authority, and the articulation and harmonization

47

thereof shall be stated with local jurisdictions. Injuctions. Powers. ARTICULO 7º — The Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority shall be entitled to implement preventive actions immediately after being notified - be it directly, indirectly or by an accusation- of a situation of risk to the environment or to the human health of the basin’s population. For such purpose, the Presidency of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority shall be entitled to: a) Intervene in processes of: granting of municipal permits, environmental auditing, environmental impact assessments and sanctions; b) Urgently summon all those alleged to be causing environmental harm. c) Audit facilities; d) Demand the compliance, update, or improvement of environmental impact assessments and environmental audits pursuant to the applicable regulations; e) Impose specific monitoring standards; f) Issue warnings; g) Urge the application of sanctions within the Administration scope; h) Order the confiscation of goods; i) Order the cessation of activities or actions noxious to the environment or to human health. j) Order the preventive, partial or total closure of premises or facilities of whatsoever nature. The Presidency of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority shall immediately serve notice on the members thereof of the decisions adopted pursuant to the aforementioned powers. Until a specific procedure for the adoption of such measures is duly adopted, the National Administrative Procedures Act shall be applied. An appeal can be filed before the Executive Branch, pursuant to provisions of Section 94 Administrative Procedures Regulations, Decree Nº 1759/72) (t.o. 1991) against the MATANZA-RIACHUELO BASIN AUTHORITY’s decision. Annual Report to the National Congress. ARTICLE 8º - The Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority shall submit an annual report to the Honorable National Congress on the implemented initiatives, actions and programs. CHAPTER III – FUNDING Environmental Compensation Fund. ARTICLE 9º - An Environmental Compensation Fund is hereby created; such Fund shall be managed by the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority and shall be mainly aimed at protecting human rights and at preventing, mitigating and remediating environmental harm. The Compensation Fund shall be composed of: a) Budget allocations covered under the Annual Budget Act passed by the National Government; b) Funds collected from penalties, fees and taxes as set forth according to regulations c) Compensations ordered by court; d) Subsidies, donations or legacies; e) Other resources allocated by the National Government, the Province of Buenos Aires and the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires; f) International Loans. CHAPTER IV - PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS SYSTEM Procedure. ARTICLE10. — The procurement and contracts system shall be governed by the mechanisms set forth under Decree Nº 1023/2001 and the amendments thereof. CHAPTER V – OTHER PROVISIONS Asset transfer. ARTICLE 11. – The Matanza-Riachuelo Basin Authority is hereby granted budget allocations, movable goods and other assets in possession of the Executing Committee for the Environmental Management Plan of the Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin created under section 1º of Decree Nº 482, dated September 20, 1995

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Application of Environmental Policy Principles. ARTICLE 12. — Without prejudice to the provisions herein, the Environmental Policy Principles set forth pursuant to of General Environment Law, Nº 25.675 shall be observed. Engagement Agreement Ratification. ARTICLE 13. — The “Matanza-Riachuelo Hydrological Basin” Engagement Agreement signed in the City of Buenos Aires on August 28, 2006 by and between the Argentine President, Néstor Carlos Kirchner, the Chief of Minister’s Cabinet, Alberto Fernández, the Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Felipe Solá, Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Jorge Telerman, and Mayors of the districts of Lanús, Avellaneda, Lomas de Zamora, Esteban Echeverría, La Matanza, Ezeiza, Cañuelas, Almirante Brown, Morón, Merlo, Marcos Paz, Presidente Perón, San Vicente and General Las Heras of the Province of Buenos Aires, is hereby ratified and incorporated hereto as Appendix I hereof. Adhesion ARTICLE 14. — Legislatures of the Province of Buenos Aires and of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are hereby invited to adhere hereto. ARTICLE 15. — Be it informed to the National Executive Branch. PASSED AT THE MEETING CHAMBER OF THE HONORABLE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN BUENOS AIRES ON NOVEMBER FIFTEEN, 2006. — REGISTERED UNDER Nº 26,168 — ALBERTO E. BALESTRINI. — JOSE J. B. PAMPURO. — Enrique Hidalgo. — Juan H. Estrada. MATANZA RIACHUELO HYDROLOGICAL BASIN ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT In the city of Buenos Aires, on August 28, 2006, THE ARGENTINE PRESIDENT, Néstor Carlos Kirchner, the CHIEF OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS, Alberto Fernández, the GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF BUENOS AIRES, Felipe Solá, HEAD OF GOVERNMENT OF THE AUTONOMOUS CITY OF BUENOS AIRES, Jorge Telerman, and Mayors of the districts of LANÚS, AVELLANEDA, LOMAS DE ZAMORA, ESTEBAN ECHEVERRÍA, LA MATANZA, EZEIZA, CAÑUELAS, ALMIRANTE BROWN, MORÓN, MERLO, MARCOS PAZ, PRESIDENTE PERÓN, SAN VICENTE AND GENERAL LAS HERAS of the PROVINCE OF BUENOS AIRES agree to sign this AGREEMENT pursuant to the following clauses and conditions: FIRST: The Parties hereto agree to fully support the Bill submitted by the NATIONAL EXECUTVE to the HONORABLE NATIONAL CONGRESS, which fosters the creation of the MATANZA RIACHUELO BASIN AUTHORITY as an interjurisdictional public law agency under the scope of the SECRETARIAT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESIDENCY OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS; SECOND: Furthermore, the Parties hereto pledge to foster, within the scope of each jurisdiction thereof, the adoption of regulations which enable the execution of the Bill referred to in the First Clause, which is to be duly passed by the HONORABLE ARGENTINE CONGRESS IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have duly executed this Document in SEVENTEEN (17) counterparts, in the place and on the date indicated above.

Appendix II: Samplings by Greenpeace in, 1998, 2000 & 2009. Discharges into Arroyo del Rey, Lomas de Zamora district:

1998 2009 Qualitative analyses of organic substances in effluents

Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), chlorated benzenes 1,1-biphenyl DDT DDD 2,4- -Dichlorophenol pentachloropropene 1,2-dichlorobenzene

α-HCH ( Cyclohexane , alpha-hexachlorine-) (SIM) β-HCH (Cyclohexane, beta-hexachlorine -) (SIM) γ-HCH (Cyclohexane, gamma-hexachlorine-) (SIM) δ-HCH (Cyclohexane, delta-hexachlorine-) Acid 1,2- Benzenedicarboxylic Acid 1,2- Benzenedicarboxylic , bis(2-etilhexil) Ester Apidic Acid, bis(2- ethylhexyl) Ester Atrazine (SIM) Benzene, 1,3-dichlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,4-dichlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,2,3-trichlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,2,4-trichlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,3,5-trichlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,2,3,5-tetrachlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorine- (SIM) Benzene, pentachlorine- (SIM) Benzene, hexachlorine- (SIM) Benzene, 1,2,4- trimethyl (SIM) Chloroform (SIM) 5-in-3-cholesterol (3 beta)- Dehydrocholesterol Decane Docosane Heneicosane Methanol, dibromoclhoride- (SIM) Nonadecane Nonadecane, 9-methyl Tetracosane

Discharge to the Riachuelo by the Américo Gaita Tannery, Lanús: 1998 2000 2009

Chromium in effluent 1.590 0,213 0.464 Chromium in sediment 4.918 2.051 16.100

The maximum discharge limit for Chromium into surface or rainwater bodies according to ACUMARF

42F is 2.0 mg/l, whereas, for example, admissible limits for sewage sludge of tanneries in

Austria are1.0 mg/l; 0.2 mg/l for Denmark; 1.0 mg/l; for Germany (in an individual effluent before being mixed with sewage waters of other tannery processes) 0.16 mg/l in the Netherlands and1.0

49

mg/l43 in USAF

43F or even lower.

Discharge to the Riachuelo by Chemotécnica Syntial, Ezeiza district:

1998 2009 Zinc in sedimentF44F (mg/kg) 999 2.390 Copper in sediment 161 6.170

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Appendix III: Heavy Metals in the Basin according to official samplings There are several studies on the quality of water and sediments present throughout the CMR. There are analyses performed by non-governmental organizations in an erratic way throughout time, scientific studies on quantification of pollutants as well as ecotoxicologic studies. Furthermore, there are researches carried out by NGOs, like Greenpeace, which implemented an extensive sampling plan throughout the basin back in 1997. Unfortunately, all studies agree on the high presence of toxic substances, in many cases, above the levels regarded as “safe” for aquatic life. Recently, and in compliance with a ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Justice ordering the submittal of a “quarterly report on the water status, groundwater and air quality”, ACUMAR signed Agreements with several technicians. Such Agreements resulted in the design of a sampling plan of surface water in several source points of the basin, and a groundwater sampling plan for sediments in some spots, whose results will be made public. By April, 2009 ACUMAR only disclosed the results of a first sampling campaign which took place in the first quarter of 2008. One may say that neither do sampling stations involve samples of most of the Matanza-Riachuelo tributaries, but they do not include sediment chemical analyses nor other methodology issues either. Current levels of chromium, cadmium, mercury and lead in the Basin’s water are very upsetting. As seen in the graphics, the concentrations of the four toxics largely exceed limits for the aquatic life protection spelled out by Decree 831/93, F

45Fregulatory of Law

24051.

Total Cadmium Acumar Sampling spot

Total Chromium Acumar Sampling spot

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Total Mercury Acumar Sampling spot

Total Lead Acumar Sampling spot

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