Chilean court blocks $450m port project over skimpy environmental impact study

A court in Chile has blocked a $450m port project in Chile’s Atacama region after it determined that the environmental impact study (EIS) “lacked relevant or essential information”.

Among the missing items in the study, submitted in April, were plans for relocating local residents, reports BNamericas. 

The gaps cannot be filled through mere clarifications, the court said.

The Copiaport-E project in the Punta Cachos peninsula involves a bulk terminal capable of handling ships up to 280m and a multi-purpose terminal with a 500m long dock and a handling capacity of 300,000 containers a year.

Work on the port was scheduled to start in February next year.

Project owner, CopiaPort-E Operaciones Marítimas, is reported to have said in a release that the decision “took us by surprise,” and that a modification to the EIS would be discussed in the coming days.

Image: The Atacama coast, Chile (Dick Culbert/CC BY 2.0)

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