A Case Study of the Social Management of an Environmental Incident with Local Productive Impacts

摘要

In this case study we analyze the methodology used to address the social and productive impacts of an ore spill in the Colina River (Metropolitan Region, Chile) on February 7, 2016. The spill was the result of a leak in the pipeline connecting the Los Bronces mine to the Las Tortolas processing plant, both owned by Anglo American Sur S.A.Casa de la Paz, a Chilean NGO, led the process of managing the social dimension of the emergency- the damage to local producers generated by the lack of water for irrigation during the environmental incident in the Colina River. Hired by Anglo American, Casa de la Paz designed a methodology to implement a fair compensation process and to oversee the integrity of its implementation.The methodology has three main components: (1) rigorous on-site fact-finding to identify the affected properties and the extent of the damage; (2) a panel of experts, composed of three government officials and two independent experts, responsible for defining transparent, fair and equitable criteria by which to compensate for economic damages; and (3) a team of lawyers responsible for the legal aspects of the process and to advise the affected local producers on the implications of the compensation agreement.The fieldwork and data analysis identified 167 affected properties, belonging to 137 different owners, located in six localities irrigated by canals dependent on the Colina River. The panel of experts determined transparent compensation criteria, based on explicit formulas by type of damage, which were widely accepted by those affected. By September 2016, seven months after the incident, 100% of the local producers affected had accepted the compensation agreement.The successful resolution of this potentially controversial incident suggests that the methodology analyzed in this case study may contribute to the management of future environmental incidents with productive impacts.