He adds: “This is the standard way of monitoring, and it began two years before the mill was in operation, so it’s a very reliable baseline. All this monitoring has revealed that there has been no change in the fish population in the river basin.”
UPM asserts that its Fray Bentos facility adheres to the European Commission’s “best available techniques” standards for emissions.
Additionally, at the newly established Paso de Los Toros plant, real-time water monitoring results are publicly accessible on the website of the Uruguayan environmental authorities.
However, pollution concerns heightened following a sodium hydroxide leak from the Paso de los Toros plant in August, leading to the discovery of dead fish and plants in a nearby stream and lagoon, as reported by Uruguayan environment ministry inspectors.
UPM acknowledges detecting the substance in a field adjacent to the site and promptly implemented corrective measures, notifying environmental authorities.
Yet, the focus extends beyond water usage, with scrutiny on the extensive planting of eucalyptus and pine trees covering over 1.2 million hectares in Uruguay for paper pulp production.
Juan de Andrés, a small-scale cattle farmer in the Cerro Largo department, contends that densely-planted eucalyptus stands, which absorb substantial soil moisture, are contributing to the drying of his nearby land.
“When I was growing up we took water from a well,” he says. “We’d take 300 or 400 litres every day. Now I don’t think we can get 400 litres a week. With so many plantations, there’s an incredible competition for water.”
Uruguay’s Minister of Industry, Omar Paganini, asserts that there is no evidence, after three decades of cultivating eucalyptus plantations, indicating a reduction in water levels in the country.
Unlike some regions where eucalyptus replaces natural forests, in Uruguay, these plantations are established on grasslands. While most experts, including UPM, acknowledge that eucalyptus plantations consume more water than natural grasslands, the determining factor is the availability of sufficient rainfall to replenish local water sources.
According to Daniel Panario, Director of the Environmental Science and Ecology Institute at the University of the Republic in Uruguay, in the rainy sub-tropical north of the country, tree plantations have minimal impact on local water levels.
However, in other regions with lower precipitation, such plantations often lead to reduced water levels. Regardless of location, Panario highlights that monocultures contribute to soil degradation and diminish biodiversity.
“Eucalyptus and pines generate irreversible changes in the physical chemical properties of the soil. The soil becomes acidic very quickly,” he says.
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