A project being carried by Equion and the Colombian Agency for Reintegration (ACR) was recognized in the Latinoamérica Verde awards, and the Ministry of Environment will investigate the impact of oil spills in Tumaco. These and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.
The Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) offered up its most detailed defense of fracking in Colombia as one of the important strategies for growth in production in the near future, saying “it is nothing new and can be done safely”.
The opposition to fracking in Colombia has been simmering for some time, but reached a new level last week after Santander’s Departmental Assembly unanimously voted against the technique in their territory.
The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) issued a report blasting the environmental and social impact which it alleges Pacific E&P has caused in Meta, and it was picked up in national media.
The head of the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) Claudia Victoria González Hernández and MinAmbiente Luis Gilberto Murillo made a visit to Cartagena as part of a national campaign to meet with the teams of regional environmental entities.
Another conflict brewing in Putumayo has come about after a community fully-rejected a seismic program in its territory during a prior consultation, but the license was granted, providing a test case on the limits of the process.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has signed onto one of the largest efforts in Colombia to protect endangered wildlife species, in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and others. This and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.
“With little information and less preparation, the government has already signed 13 contracts to produce oil with these controversial technology”, warns a national publication, and says that fracking is a risky answer to Colombia’s falling reserve count.
Public rejection of an environmental license for production near “the world’s most beautiful river”, Caño Cristales, might have led the revoked license of Hupecol, but the uncertainty is much bigger, considering how many more projects are in the same area.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has applied for modifications to its environmental licenses to drill new wells in the vicinity of Barranca. It has met with residents from 120 area villages to socialize the changes and impact it could have on the community. Municipal authorities say they will verify the work.