The organizations Environmental Lawyers Association, Greenpeace, and the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation, which are leading the collective lawsuit for the glaciers, presented new evidence to the court in the case challenging the reform of the Glacier Law. They warn that the Vicuña mining project, recently approved to enter the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI), is advancing over a currently protected area. The request seeks to prevent an inventoried glacier from losing protection while the constitutionality of the reform is discussed.
The organizations requested an urgent precautionary measure to prevent any change in the legal status of the GE110 Debris Glacier, located in the Iglesia department, province of San Juan, specifically that the province and the IANIGLA refrain from removing this glacier from the National Glacier Inventory while the judicial case progresses.
On June 16, the national government announced the approval of the entry of the Vicuña project into the RIGI. This copper, gold, and silver project in San Juan, driven by the corporations BHP and Lundin, companies of Australian and Canadian origin, brings together the Josemaría and Filo del Sol developments and is located in the Jáchal river basin, part of the Desaguadero system. This makes any reduction in protection over glaciers and periglacial environments particularly serious, as these strategic water reserves are part of territories that are already facing increasing water pressure today.
In the area where the GE110 Debris Glacier is located, the operations of the mining project are projected. According to the judicial presentation, an open-pit mine of approximately 259 hectares is planned there. In February, prior to the law reform, Greenpeace documented, through a flyover, the G110 debris glacier. The images showed visible mining interventions in areas covered by the original glacier law. Modifying the norm was the first step to legalize activities that were carried out in clear violation.
The existence of this geoform was pointed out by the Jáchal Assembly to the IANIGLA in 2021. Following that presentation, the institute recognized that the area should be incorporated into the National Glacier Inventory. Resolution 514/2022 of the then Ministry of Environment of the Nation ordered the replacement of the reports corresponding to the Upper Blanco River sub-basin of the Jáchal river basin and the incorporation of the GE110 Glacier into the Inventory.
The organizations warned that the approval of the project under the RIGI increases the urgency of the precautionary measure requested in May. If the GE110 Glacier were removed from the National Glacier Inventory and the project advanced under the RIGI umbrella, a subsequent ruling could come when the damage is already done. The National State, the Province of San Juan, and the intervening agencies must not alter the protection of this glacier until there is a final ruling.
This new document is presented within the framework of the collective lawsuit promoted by the organizations along with more than 850,000 individuals who joined in a personal capacity, Marta Maffei, author of the original Glacier Law, and assemblies and organizations from across the country, including the Jáchal No Se Toca Assembly, Popular Assembly for Water, Pucará Assembly, Assembly in Defense of the Territory, Santa Cruz Assembly for Water, Multisectoral Gulf San Matías, Paraná No Se Toca Assembly, Alihuén Association, Amnesty International, the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), and the Circle of Environmental Policies.
The case demonstrates the danger of the reform to the Glacier Law. The new regulation opens the door to reducing protections over areas that today fulfill an essential hydric function. The glaciers and periglacial environments integrate basins, regulate water, and sustain living conditions downstream, disregarding legislative borders. Therefore, their protection was defined as a national policy of minimum budgets.
The advancement of a mining project over the GE110 Glacier is a warning sign for the entire country. If an inventoried glacier can be exposed by a legal reform and by the accelerated approval of a megaproject under the RIGI, then the Glacier Law loses its preventive function. The judiciary must act before the damage occurs. In terms of water, glaciers, and territories, arriving late is equivalent to endorsing the loss.
