| Ecuador's
high court gave a green light to build an oil pipeline
north of Quito. The decision was cheered by economic
boosters and booed by environmental and indigenous
groups.
The
pipeline, which will double the capacity of Ecuador's
crude oil, the country's largest export, crosses
the Mindo-Nambillo ecological reserve. The reserve
is comprised of 19,200 hectares and incorporates
three distictive ecosystems: Andean forest, subtropical
forest, and cloud fores. It is also home to 450 species
of birds and 370 species of wild orchids.
Last May, the
nation's Environment Ministry said an environmental
impact study, conducted
by the seven-company consortium building the
pipeline, "suffers deficiencies in its
analysis in several zones, and as a result
should be improved." Apparently the study
focused on the Mindo area and did not include
details about forests in southern Ecuador.
Despite these concerns, Environmental Minister
Lourdes Luque did not think construction of
the $1.1 billion dollar pipeline should be
delayed, and the government approved the project
to help Ecuador's sagging economy.
The consortium building the pipeline, which
includes Albert Energy, Agip Petroleum, Kerr
McGee, Occidental Petroleum, Repsol-YPF, Perez
Company and the Argentine construction company
Techint, should complete construction in 2003.
|
