Over 70 Uruguayan and international civil society organisations wrote an open letter to the Uruguayan authorities to address the largest chemical spill in the history of Uruguay. The spill occurred in a pulp mill owned by UPM, a Finnish pulp and paper company. The demands of the organisations are twofold – a total shutdown of the pulp mill until causes of the event have been determined and a monthly session monitoring commission, open to the “participation, management and control” of all citizens, in three pulp mills (UPM, UPM2 and Montes del Plata).
After a long opposition by local civil society, the second giant UPM mill started its operation in June 2023. Uruguayans didn’t have to wait longer than two months to witness the mill’s first environmental disaster: a spill of 900 to 1,000 cubic meters of caustic soda. Amid controversy, the company presented the mill as one of the most competitive and sustainable in the world. In spite of the claims of the plant’s excellent safety and environmental performance, the accident occurred due to using an inadequate infrastructure. As a result the caustic soda leaked through the subsoil more than 300 metres into a stream, where it killed all the fauna. The stream in turn flows into the Río Negro, the river crossing the country from east to west in the Paso de los Toros mill area.
According to local sources, the accident is a crime under the criminal code of Uruguay (art 218) liable to imprisonment for a term ranging from 12 to 16 months. In reality, since the negotiation of the contract with Uruguay, UPM seems to enjoy a special status. According to the Deputy Minister of Environment, UPM will be required to just pay a fine, as suggested by the company itself.
UPM claims exceptional leadership for its environmental performances, despite these claims having been debunked by an analysis released by EPN in 2020.
EPN is one of the signatories of the letter and stands in solidarity with the Uruguayan organisations. We also call on any financier involved to engage UMP to make sure the two demands in the open letter are met.
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