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Endangered Wave: Santos del Mar, Chile
Surfers for Cetaceans, Save The Waves Coalition, Dave Rastovich and
Ramon
Navarro team up to protect an endangered surfing area and its
ecosystem.
Southern Chile's newest big wave surf site, Santos del Mar, and its
surrounding coastline would be polluted if plans go ahead to construct a
proposed US$1.3 billion dollar coal-fired power plant on the coastline of
Chile's 7th
Region.
Ramon
Navarro, Chilean big wave hunter and the pioneer surfer at
Santos
del Mar, is particularly inspired to fight the project: "This is the biggest and
most powerful wave that we've ever found in Chile and the area holds numerous
other surfing resources that must be protected. Mega-industry will put it at
risk with this polluting coal plant, and we must stop it."
Proposed by international energy giant AES GENER (www.aes.com), development of the "Los Robles Power
Plant" would include the construction of a 750-megawatt coal-burning facility
and industrial port on the beach near Santos del Mar. Pulverized coal shipments
from Australia would be unloaded there, damaging the ecosystem and polluting the
ocean with ashes, air pollution and toxic wastewater.
Local
surfers and residents are concerned about the environmental degradation that
would be caused by burning coal at the facility. Arsenic and lead poisoning of
adjacent marine waters and agricultural lands are common from coal burning power
plants, and the region surrounding Santos del Mar is remote and rural with
plentiful fishing grounds and small-scale agriculture. Furthermore, the proposed
cooling towers for the electrical generator would use marine waters via an
industrial intake mechanism that is responsible for killing millions of fish and
marine mammals per year in similar facilities worldwide.
Dave
Rastovich, co-founder of Surfers for Cetaceans and professional free surfer,
spoke out in opposition to the project while he was surfing in the region in
late June: "I was surfing an epic beach break in front of the proposed site for
the coal plant, and it's full of marine life. In my travels throughout all of
Chile I've seen very few dolphins, but at this spot I surfed with numerous
dolphins as well as seals, penguins, birds, and fish. The company's
environmental report claims that there is no marine life in the region that will
be adversely affected by their coal plant, but that's a false claim that ignores
the problem.
Save
The Waves' program director in Chile, Josh Berry, rebuts the industry's claim
that energy is desperately needed to supply the nation at any cost: "The energy
industry in Chile wants infinite growth of their sector, mostly to feed the
future projected needs of the copper mining industry in northern Chile. However,
it's based on an outdated model of massive consumption and zero conservation.
What about alternative clean energies such as wind, solar, and wave power? The
region is perfect for the development of these technologies, but this coal plant
is a step backwards for the region." Alternative energy company Finavera
Renewables (www.finavera.com) recently found Chile to be the
#1 most promising wave power energy market out of 80 coastal nations
studied.
The
majority of local citizens are opposed to the project, and Save The Waves
Coalition and Surfers for Cetaceans are working closely with FIMA, a group of
Chilean environmental lawyers, to organize legal opposition to the project and
protect Santos del Mar and its surroundings.
More
information about the wave at Santos del Mar, the proposed coal
Also
visit the Spanish language local opposition website, with
up-to-date
Contact for more information:
Josh
Berry
Save
The Waves Coalition
Chile
Tel: +56 98295 4870
Andy
Sibley
Surfers for Cetaceans
Australia Tel: +61 (0)423 452050
FIMA ?
Fiscal�del Medio Ambiente
Chile
Tel: +56 2421 7468
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