FUNAM: Holcim-Minetti Cement Company Releases Cancerous Dioxins

En Español

The Foundation for the Defense of the Environment (FUNAM) has published two reports conducted by Universidad Tecnológica Nacional that show that Holcim-Minetti released dioxins at levels higher than those allowed under the National Law on Hazardous Waste in 2009 and 2010.

The multinational corporation, which is based in Switzerland, burns hazardous waste in the oven at its Northern Plant, which is located near the community of Yocsina. Residents have complained about air pollution and nauseating odors for years.

Córdoba and Buenos Aires (Argentina), July 10, 2011: The Foundation for the Defense of the Environment (Fundación para la defensa del ambiente, FUNAM) reported today that the cement factory located in Yocsina (Córdoba) that is owned by the multinational corporation Holcim, “releases cancerous dioxins into the air at levels that are higher than those allowed under the National Law on Hazardous Waste 24051.” FUNAM confirmed this through two technical reports conducted by Universidad Tecnológica Nacional which confirm this serious offense.

The multinational corporation, which has its headquarters in Switzerland, burns hazardous waste in the oven at its Northern Plant near the community of Yocsina and very close to Malagueño. Local residents report that the cement company has produced air pollution and nauseating odors for years. They feel that many of the illnesses that have been reported in the area can be attributed to the pollution produced by the plant.

Holcim-Minetti operates in Yocsina next to another plant, Ecoblend, which it also owns. This facility provides reception services and burns hazardous industrial waste at the national level. The plant is authorized by provincial and national environmental agencies to incinerate a long list of toxic elements including mineral oils and waste from the pharmaceutical industry as well as waste that contains cyanide, arsenic and insecticides.

FUNAM’s President, Dr. Raúl Montenegro, published two reports conducted by Universidad Tecnológica Nacional that demonstrate how Holcim-Minetti released dioxins in open violation of National Law on Hazardous Waste 24051. He stated that “the M44 report conducted in 2009 demonstrates that the release of dioxins was 52% higher than authorized. M56 states that far from correcting the situation, the company’s infractions in 2010 were even more serious, as it exceeded allowable levels by 203%.”

Reports M44 and M56 were conducted by the Siqua Laboratory at Universidad Tecnológica Nacional’s Córdoba Region Campus. Both stated that “Based on the monitoring conducted, we can state that the concentration of material equivalent to Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD 2,3,7,8) released by the oven is higher than that allowed under National Law on Hazardous Waste 24051 (Decree 831/93).”

Montenegro added that the TCDD dioxin “is a certain human carcinogen according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)” and that the dioxins “act at very low doses, are stored in fatty tissue and are extremely persistent. Embryos, fetuses, pregnant women, babies and children tend to be most affected. Dioxins alter the hormonal and immune systems and produce sarcoma, endometriosis, birth defects and other health problems.”

FUNAMunderscored the irresponsibility of the Swiss company “because it broke the National Law on Hazardous Waste for two years and, even worse, increased pollution instead of decreasing it. The law states that the limit is 0.1 ng/Nm3. However, in 2009, the concentration of TCDD dioxin equivalents was 0.152 ng/Nm3 and in 2010 it was 0.303 ng/Nm3 (nanograms per normal cubic meter).”

Dr. Raúl Montenegro, who has won an Alternative Nobel Price, stated that “the violation of the National Law on Hazardous Wastes during two consecutive years is not only Holcim’s responsibility. It is also the responsibility of the province’s Environmental Office as well as that of the nation, both of which have policing power. The Universidad Tecnológica Nacional reports provide us with access to the truth for 2009 and 2010, but we also want to know what the levels were during previous years. Remember, the cement company has been burning hazardous waste since 1994.”

Montenegro stated that this complaint does not place the cement company or jobs in jeopardy. “The solution to the problem of dioxins, furans and other toxic substances is simple. Holcim must stop burning hazardous waste in its ovens and should only use conventional fuels.”

FUNAM stated that based on the serious violations that have been documented, “plans are being made for criminal complaints against Holcim and the environmental agencies because the State should have prevented the release of dioxins above allowable levels.”

“There is an urgent need to conduct independent epidemiological studies in Yocsina and Malagueño and to take blood samples from residents who have been exposed in order to determine the contents in chlorate substances and other contaminants,” Dr. Raúl Montenegro stated.

He added that, “we must also analyze the release of other chemical substances including benzene, toluene, carbon tetrachloride, methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, trichloroethane, chlorobenzene, chloroform, naphthalene, phenol and phthalates” because the plant “burns a wide range of hazardous waste from throughout the country. Holcim-Minetti should recognize that one never knows what one is burning or what those kinds of mixtures will produce despite its clients’ sworn statements.”

Holcim Does What Governments Allow

Eduardo Giesen, Regional Coordinator for Latin America of GAIA, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, reported from Santiago, Chile that the Swiss multinational corporation Holcim “has set up operations in the great majority of the countries of the region,usually acquiring part or all of national cement companies. It also has installed subsidiary companies that handle related services such as transportation, reception and preparation of alternate fuels for the cement ovens based on hazardous and conventional waste.”

He added that the industry “has disguised the practice of burning hazardous waste as sustainable and has presented it as a replacement for fossil fuels. However, GAIA and its member organizations throughout the world and the communities affected by these practices reject them and denounce them because they are nothing more than a form of incineration with all of the risks and impacts that it presents for human health and the environment.”

Giesen stated that Holcim “adjusts its strategies for introducing its dirty operations in each country depending on the institutional and political landscape that it finds there. It may use lobbying or the corruption of the political-administrative system, which hides evidence and relaxes oversight, or the militarization and criminalization of communities and territories with the complicity of the government, as has occurred in Central America.”

Holcim and its subsidiaries in at least Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil have been involved with serious cases of environmental impact and disputes and pollute the air, water, soil and food supply and jeopardize residents’ health as well as local activities and economies.

For more information, please contact:

Prof. Dr. Raúl A. Montenegro, Biologist

FUNAM

Telephone (Argentina): 03543-422236 (From elsewhere: 54-3543-422236)

Mobile Phone (Argentina): 0351-155 125 637 (From elsewhere: 54-9-351 5 125 637)

E-mail:biologomontenegro(at)gmail.com

Eduardo Giesen

GAIA América Latina

Telephone (Chile): 56-9-91630995

Email:eduardo(at)no-burn.org

Press Secretary:

Nayla Azzinnari

Mobile Phone: (in Argentina) 011-155 460 9860 (From elsewhere: 54-9-11 5 460 9860)

E-mail: nay_azz(at)hotmail.com