PULP MILLS (JUDGMENT)
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been available to Argentina at various stages of the proceedings or
have been available in the public domain. Therefore the Court does
not consider that Argentina has been at a disadvantage with regard to the
production of evidence relating to the discharges of effluent of the mill.
227. To determine whether the concentrations of pollutants discharged
by the Orion (Botnia) mill are within the regulatory limits, the Court will
have to assess them against the effluent discharge limits — both in terms
of the concentration of effluents in each litre of wastewater discharged
and the absolute amount of effluents that can be discharged in a day —
prescribed by the applicable regulatory standards of the Parties, as characterized by the Court in paragraph 200 above, and the permits issued
for the plant by the Uruguayan authorities, since the Digest only sets
general limits on “hydrocarbons”, “sedimentable solids”, and “oils and
greases”, but does not establish specific ones for the substances in contention between the Parties. Argentina did not allege any non-compliance of
the Orion (Botnia) mill with CARU’s effluent standards (CARU Digest,
Sec. E3 (1984, as amended)).
228. Taking into account the data collected after the start-up of the
mill as contained in the various reports by DINAMA and EcoMetrix, it
does not appear that the discharges from the Orion (Botnia) mill have
exceeded the limits set by the effluent standards prescribed by the relevant Uruguayan regulation as characterized by the Court in paragraph 200 above, or the initial environmental authorization issued by
MVOTMA (MVOTMA, Initial Environmental Authorization for the
Botnia Plant (14 February 2005)), except for a few instances in which the
concentrations have exceeded the limits. The only parameters for which a
recorded measurement exceeded the standards set by Decree No. 253/79
or the initial environmental authorization by MVOTMA are : nitrogen,
nitrates, and AOX (Adsorbable Organic Halogens). In those cases, measurements taken on one day exceeded the threshold. However, the initial
environmental authorization of 14 February 2005 specifically allows
yearly averaging for the parameters. The most notable of these cases in
which the limits were exceeded is the one relating to AOX, which is the
parameter used internationally to monitor pulp mill effluent, sometimes
including persistent organic pollutants (POPs). According to the IPPCBAT reference document submitted by the Parties, and considered
by them as the industry standard in this sector, “the environmental
control authorities in many countries have set severe restrictions on
the discharges of chlorinated organics measured as AOX into the
aquatic environment”. Concentrations of AOX reached at one
point on 9 January 2008, after the mill began operations, as high
a level as 13 mg/L, whereas the maximum limit used in the environ80