In 2024 alone, 45 incidents of birds affected by contact with swimming pool liquids have been reported.
This week, the Chilean Environmental Superintendency (SMA) ordered the company SQM Salar SA to apply Urgent and Temporary Measures (MUT) in its project to expand the Lithium Carbonate Plant, located in the Salar del Carmen (Antofagasta commune), due to the impact on wildlife in the area.
The project consists of an expansion to increase the production capacity of the existing lithium carbonate plant, whose facilities were environmentally approved in 2017 by the Evaluation Commission of the Antofagasta Region (Environmental Qualification Resolution No. 262).
As part of its production process, the project considers the use of large industrial pools, which generate bodies of water that could confuse the local fauna.
It should be noted that in his RCA the owner committed to the implementation of some measures that would help avoid potential impacts on wildlife, such as: the implementation of a perimeter fence in the pool area to minimize the possibility of wildlife entering the area; avoiding the presence of dogs or other domestic animals during work; the installation of sound equipment to scare or deter the presence of birds in the bodies of water, as well as keeping domestic waste from the work fronts in airtight garbage bins.
However, during inspections carried out by the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), it was found that the fences of the project's industrial pools were not installed as stipulated in the RCA, and there were sectors with openings.
In turn, deficiencies were identified in the range of the installed bird-scaring sound systems (only 42.1% of the surface of the pools would be covered) and regarding their effectiveness (there were multiple species of birds in areas covered by the sound systems and in the vicinity of these pools, apart from multiple other specimens flying over the area).
Once the background information was received from the SAG, the SMA reviewed the mortality reports from SQM Salar SA, identifying that, only considering the period of 2024, 45 incidents of birds affected by contact with the liquids in the pools would have been reported: 25 of them were specimens of Collared Terns (Oceanodroma hornbyi), a species in Vulnerable conservation status, and considered in the Northern Chilean Sea Swallows Plan (Species Recovery, Conservation and Management Plan -Recoge- of the Ministry of the Environment).
There was also evidence of the presence of domestic dogs in the area – such as feces, footprints and plates of food – which were kept as pets by the owner's contractor, EXCON, as well as garbage containers without lids, allowing the smell of waste to attract fauna to the pools without perimeter fences.
For this reason, the Environmental Superintendence ordered the owner to close all the perimeters of the project's pools, ensuring that their installation is continuous and of characteristics that allow minimizing the entry of fauna into the sector. Compliance with the provisions of this point must be completed within the first 30 calendar days, counted from the notification of the measures.
To prevent the keeping of domestic animals within the project, training sessions must be provided to internal and external personnel, as well as establishing express prohibitions in the project's internal regulatory documents. The implementation of these measures must be reported within 15 calendar days from the notification.
Hermetic containers must be installed in all waste disposal areas of the project, and training must be provided to internal and external personnel for their proper use. The implementation of these measures must be reported within 15 calendar days from the notification.
SQM must also submit a schedule for the execution of actions, including the preparation of a report aimed at proving the effectiveness of the repellent systems currently in use. In addition, the owner must submit a Gantt chart-style plan for the implementation of actions to be executed as the report concludes.
For this purpose, the period of validity of the ordered measures, corresponding to 3 months, counted from the notification, may not be exceeded.
“The objective of the measures ordered is to protect the species involved. It is imperative that companies not only have an RCA for the operation of their operations, but they must also ensure proper compliance with the requirements that this entails and that are clearly described in the environmental permit,” said the Superintendent of the Environment, Marie Claude Plumer .
