As reported by RCN Radio, inhabitants of Guaduas (Cundinamarca) complain to the government about the delay in granting environmental licenses for the construction of a section of the Ruta del Sol which connects Guaduas to the municipality of Villeta. They note that an oil company has had a license to operate for more than 13 years in the area.
This is an article about coal and loading coal on ocean-going vessels by barge, neither of which are particularly relevant to the hydrocarbons industry. But we tweeted this when it happened (“Colombia environmental agency shows its teeth: shuts down second largest coal producer for accidentally dumping cargo in the sea.”) because it showed the economic consequences of violating the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) rules. Drummond is losing millions of dollars because of the shutdown and because the country’s largest coal mine, Cerrejon is on strike, the country is losing significant royalty and tax revenues. It now seems that the ANLA’s actions were justified, the shut down might have been avoided and all companies should learn from the lesson. From an ANLA press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia
According to national radio station W Radio there is a tense work environment at the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) due to the pressure exerted by managers on technicians responsible for making environmental licenses studies. The radio station said it has documents that prove that legal and administrative employees of the ANLA modify the technical concepts of biologists, environmental engineers and forestry engineers to help companies obtain licenses more easily. The technicians say that non-technical employees are not authorized or qualified to make such changes. In addition, some technicians said there are managers asking them for 300 environmental concepts for wells in a 15 day period.
Our readers do not need to go through the long and dreadful story of the Paramo of Santurbán, the country’s biggest gold deposit. In short, environmentalists have long been fighting the development of this area and when science failed to confirm that the entire mountain needed to be protected, they went the political route and had the area declared a park. This left many companies with mining concessions “high-and-dry”.Ecogold – formerly known as Greystar – had apparently sunk over US$450M in developing its property which was at the center of the firestorm. Now government officials are confused about what comes next.
Local news site NoticiasdeVillavicencio.com reports that inhabitants of the municipality of Cumaral (Meta) denounced that cracks in the area’s mountains have appeared due to oil companies’ seismic work.. The environment secretary of Villavicencio, Nelson Vivas Mora, said it is important to protect the rights and interests of the Cumaral residents.
Last Friday, January 18, 2013 MinMinas Federico Renjifo toured Meta speaking with local inhabitants, mayors and visiting Ecopetrol projects. We thought it interesting very relevant for its comments on environmental and community management. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
The CARs are the regional autonomous corporations that manage water resources regionally. Organized by watershed, they historically have been inefficient, under-resourced for their mandate and in many cases corrupt. Despite this, the Environment and Sustainable Development Ministry wants to give them a clearer mandate and better resources. The National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) has a pilot program to delegate responsibility for some areas to the CARs. Here MinAmbiente announces the timetable for bringing reforms to Congress. From an MinAmbiente press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
National newspaper El Espectador says that the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) will implement a so-called ‘express window’ to accelerate the licensing process. For a fee, companies will be able to get expedited processing although there will be no change in requirements. No date was given for the launch of the new process nor was there any indication of what the fee might be.
The climactic phenomenon known as El Niño manifests itself in the Andes as a drought period. Colombia has been threatened by forest fires and there are the usual questions about water levels in reservoirs. The country’s electrical grid is powered primarily by hydro power. In exceptionally dry El Niño years, the level of power generation can drop. The Environment Ministry recently issued a press release, translated here and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
As we recently reported, this year the diesel fuel may have only 50ppm sulfur, however according to national business paper Portafolio, Tomás González, Deputy Minister of Energy says this measure cost Ecopetrol more than a CoP$1T that went into expanding the production capacity of the Barrancabermeja refinery and associated transport logistics. Gonzalez added that it is important to improve engine performance and reduce exhaust emissions, as required by the Air Quality Law.
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