PULP MILLS (JUDGMENT)
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by the industrial plant to be established, particularly in a sector such as
pulp manufacturing, which often involves the use or production of substances which have an impact on the environment. This is all the more
important in view of the fact that Article 41 (a) provides that the regulatory framework to be adopted by the Parties has to be in keeping with
the guidelines and recommendations of international technical bodies.
224. The Court notes that the Orion (Botnia) mill uses the bleached
Kraft pulping process. According to the December 2001 Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Reference Document on Best Available
Techniques in the Pulp and Paper Industry of the European Commission
(hereinafter “IPPC-BAT”), which the Parties referred to as the industry
standard in this sector, the Kraft process already accounted at that time
for about 80 per cent of the world’s pulp production and is therefore the
most applied production method of chemical pulping processes. The
plant employs an ECF-light (Elemental chlorine-free) bleaching process
and a primary and secondary wastewater treatment involving activated
sludge treatment.
225. The Court finds that, from the point of view of the technology
employed, and based on the documents submitted to it by the Parties,
particularly the IPPC-BAT, there is no evidence to support the claim of
Argentina that the Orion (Botnia) mill is not BAT-compliant in terms of
the discharges of effluent for each tonne of pulp produced. This finding is
supported by the fact that, as shown below, no clear evidence has been
presented by Argentina establishing that the Orion (Botnia) mill is not in
compliance with the 1975 Statute, the CARU Digest and applicable regulations of the Parties in terms of the concentration of effluents per litre of
wastewater discharged from the plant and the absolute amount of effluents that can be discharged in a day.
226. The Court recalls that Uruguay has submitted extensive data
regarding the monitoring of effluent from the Orion (Botnia) mill, as
contained in the various reports by EcoMetrix and DINAMA
(EcoMetrix, Independent Performance Monitoring as required by the
IFC Phase 2 : Six Month Environmental Performance Review (July
2008) ; EcoMetrix, Independent Performance Monitoring as required
by the IFC, Phase 3 : Environmental Performance Review (2008
Monitoring Year) (hereinafter “EcoMetrix Third Monitoring Report”) ;
DINAMA, Performance Report for the First Year of Operation
of the Botnia Plant and the Environmental Quality of the Area of
Influence, May 2009 ; DINAMA, Six Month Report on the Botnia
Emission Control and Environmental Performance Plan), and that
Argentina expressed the view, in this regard, that Uruguay had on this
matter, much greater, if not exclusive, access to the factual evidence. However, the Court notes that Argentina has itself generated much factual
information and that the materials which Uruguay produced have
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