In the province of Chaco, the Justice issued a ruling that sets a precedent in the field of environmental protection. The judge of the Civil and Commercial Court No. 21, Julián Flores, ordered the closure of an open-air dump in the municipality of La Verde and declared the Negro River as a living system with its own rights. Among them, the right to exist, not to be polluted, and to be restored in the face of the damage suffered.
The resolution goes beyond the technical analysis of a landfill and proposes a paradigm shift: the river should not be considered a passive object of administration, but an organism carrying essential ecological functions.
The case and the evidence
The case originated from an injunction filed by Antonio Sotelo, a cattle producer neighboring the site called “Urban Solid Waste Treatment Center.” What was supposed to operate as a treatment plant was functioning, according to an ocular inspection, as an uncontrolled open-air dump.
Among the evidence mentioned were plastic bags ingested by cattle causing deaths, leachates seeping into the groundwater, and the alarming proximity — just 500 meters — to the Negro River’s course. The expertise of the Provincial Water Administration (APA) classified the location of the site as “totally illegal.”
Health and environmental risks
Judge Flores emphasized that the progressive degradation of the river through pollutant discharges, inadequate waste management, and lack of environmental planning affects both the current inhabitants of the basin and the natural heritage of future generations.
The ruling warns of concrete risks: soil and water contamination, possible presence of heavy metals seeping into productive areas, and a potential impact on public health if these substances reach the food consumed by the population.
In his ruling, the magistrate detailed that the landfill is only 147 meters from the municipal cemetery and next to the plaintiff’s cattle establishment, which exacerbates the environmental and health consequences.
He also described visible problems such as the dispersion of plastic bags and light waste carried by the wind, ending up in the fields and being ingested by cattle, causing severe digestive disorders and even death.
The river as a subject of rights
By declaring the Negro River a subject of rights, the ruling imposes on the Chaco State — at all its levels — the role of guarantor and custodian. It is not a symbolic gesture but a stance against a development model that the judge considers incompatible with human dignity and the preservation of life.
Flores also requested that the municipality of La Verde, along with neighboring communes and Greater Resistencia, create a protective body for the Negro River.
The ruling exposes the issue of inadequate waste management and irresponsible possession of dumps near watercourses. At the same time, it inaugurates a legal vision that recognizes rivers as living systems with their own rights, reinforcing the need for public conservation and environmental management policies.
