Without the traditional legal garb, Candy Gonzalez, vice president of the Belize Environmental Law and Policy Office (BELPO), appeared before Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh on Friday, arguing for an injunction to stay the construction of the $105 million Vaca dam until certain aspects of the Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP) for its forerunner, the Chalillo, have been complied with.
Gonzalez has specifically raised two issues she said are of major public concern: (1) the lack of an emergency preparedness plan in the event of a flash flood on the Macal River, the river on which the dams are built, or in the event of dam breakage, and (2) the absence of mercury testing downstream of the dams, and particularly of methyl mercury in fish.
BELPO has listed the Chief Environmental Officer as defendant. Acting Chief Environmental Officer, Martin Allegria, was present for Friday’s proceedings.
Three crown counsels from the Attorney General’s Ministry – Deshawn Arzu, Andrew McSweaney and Pricilla Banner – appeared on behalf of the Chief Environmental Officer and the interested parties: the Director of Health Services, the National Emergency Response Organization (NEMO) and the National Meteorology Service (NMS) – all Government agencies.
Apart from requesting the injunction, BELPO has asked the court for a compliance order (or writ mandamus), ordering the Department of the Environment to enforce the country’s environmental laws that mandate the Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL) to adhere to the environmental compliance plan and put in place a dam break emergency plan. This would be determined through subsequent judicial review proceedings before the Supreme Court.
In court Gonzalez said that the ECP for Chalillo, signed on April 5, 2002, required the emergency plans, as well as adequate publicity to inform the community of what they need to do in the case of a dam break or threatening flood on the river. But according to her, there is no indication that this requirement has yet been met, and with the hurricane season upon us, it is even more important because many people from other parts of the country seek refuge in the area during hurricane threats.
Gonzalez told the court that this amounts to an egregious violation of the law because the ECP is binding on the Department of the Environment (DOE) and BECOL: BECOL has the obligation to fulfill and the Government has the obligation to monitor and ensure that there is compliance. She added that the people of the area have a legitimate expectation that the Government, NEMO and the DOE will look out for their interest.
Vaca is referred to as the final stage in a three-dam project on the Macal River and should not be allowed to proceed until the current health and safety concerns have been addressed, Gonzalez further stated.
Counsel Pricilla Banner was the main presenter for the Government’s case. She told the court that the Department of the Environment has been proactive in seeking to ensure that the issues are addressed, but since the DOE relies on other Government agencies, such as the Fisheries Department and NEMO, to accomplish some of the ECP’s requirements, the hold-ups have really been out of their hands. She told the court the court that there is voluminous correspondence to prove this point.
She went on to say that because of the problems the DOE has experienced in getting the Chalillo ECP effected, the requirements under the VACA ECP are different and intended to ensure that where these other Government agencies do not (or cannot) do their part, then the DOE may contract independent parties to get the job done. This, she said, was done to ensure that the compliance issues experienced with Chalillo are avoided with Vaca.
There were a lot of teething pains, but that does not mean there was no compliance with the Chalillo ECP as alleged, Banner stated, adding that BELPO was seeking to hold Vaca hostage because of issues with Chalillo.
The counsel also told the court that granting permission for the injunction would impose undue hardships on contractors for Vaca.
After listening to the parties, the Chief Justice indicated that while he would not grant BELPO’s request for an injunction, he would grant them leave to file for judicial review.
The court is now awaiting that application before it can set a date to proceed.
Attorney Michael Young is representing BECOL. BECOL director Lynn Young sat in on Friday’s session.