[News Spot] The 'Ventanas Smelter' Closed Due to Notorious Environmental Damage

'Ventanas Smelter' is a copper smelter operated by CODELCO, the world's largest copper producer and Chile's state-owned company. It is located in the village of Quintero on the central coast, 140 km northwest of Santiago, the capital of Chile. Opened in 1964, it was a symbolic facility that led Chile's economic development.

However, for several years, toxic substances and air pollution generated during the smelting process have become social issues. In 2018, about 600 out of 50,000 residents in the surrounding villages of Quintero and Puchuncav? experienced collective symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and paralysis.

Ventanas smelter plant view.
Photo by Yonhap News

Last year, more than 100 students and teachers at a school near the smelter simultaneously reported symptoms including headaches, nausea, and eye irritation. At that time, sulfur dioxide, a toxic substance, was detected in the air at five times the standard limit.

Eventually, the Chilean government declared an environmental emergency in the smelter area last year and decided to close the smelter in June. During this process, a strike occurred due to opposition from labor unions concerned about large-scale unemployment.

Since 1958, more than 12 large companies, including coal-fired power plants, oil, cement, electricity, and copper smelters, have been established in Quintero and Puchuncav? under government initiative, causing severe environmental pollution damage. Environmental activists called this area a 'sacrifice zone' due to repeated pollution incidents causing a public health emergency, and the international environmental organization Greenpeace named it 'Chile's Chernobyl.'

CODELCO accounts for about 8% of the world's copper production and is responsible for 10-15% of Chile's gross domestic product (GDP). Chile is the world's largest copper producer, holding 28% of the global copper market.

According to Chilean daily El Mercurio on the 1st (local time), CODELCO stopped operations at the Ventanas Smelter yesterday after 59 years since it began operation in 1964. Following the closure decision, the Chilean Congress approved the smelter's closure only in March this year, and all procedures, including environmental remediation, were completed in about a year.