Colombia’s Council of State has ruled that a municipal public referendum involving Colombian subsoil exceeds the power of that entity, after Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) challenged a decision by a Casanare tribunal to accept a referendum from the Monterrey municipality.
Organizers booked the February 20th march for the water as a milestone for the anti-oil movement and turning of the tide towards stronger environmental regulation. The march occurred without incident in Casanare and Meta, but fell short of the loft expectations.
The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente) Luz Helena Sarmiento said that environmental issues must be evenly weighed with policies that bring development and economic benefits for Colombia’s poor, but that it cannot do so at any cost.
Casanare’s environmental management agency Corporinoquia is planning the prior consultation phase to declare a number of micro-basins as protected natural resources due to their role in the supply of water for local communities.
The mining and energy boom has brought economic benefits says Senator Jose Name, who also charges that the industry has destabilized the Colombian peso, wrecked local agriculture and carries grave social and environmental risks.
The National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) has issued a decree that simplifies the requirements needed to gather specimens needed for environmental permitting and licenses, a step in the process whose catch-22 has dogged the environmental process for hydrocarbon companies.
The upcoming march on February 20th to protest extractive industry activities near water sources will “derail the Santos’ destructive engine” says the president of Meta’s energy, mining and environmental committee, Timoteo Romero Morales.
Community leaders in the municipalities of Tame, Arauca and Hato Corozal, Casanare have formally requested a public hearing to voice questions on the environmental impact of oil production in the Llanos 10 block.
Oil producer Equion says it expects net oil production in 2014 to increase slightly to 27,900bd in 2014, compared to 27,000bd in 2013, and addressed accusations that seismic exploration is affecting the environment in Casanare.
Community leaders from 22 municipalities in four departments will participate in a march on February 20th, 2014 in Meta capital of Villavicencio that will reject any oil production or exploration activities near the local water sources as the anti-oil sentiment in the region’s communities grows.
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