About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

35 Ecology L.Q. 73 (2008)
A Solid Foundation: Belize's Chalillo Dam and Environmental Decisionmaking

handle is hein.journals/eclawq35 and id is 75 raw text is: A Solid Foundation: Belize's Chalillo Dam and Environmental Decisionmaking Ari Hershowitz* Originally introduced in the United States through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, environmental assessment requirements are now incorporated in the environmental laws of countries worldwide. These requirements are viewed with ambivalence by some developing country governments, which see them at best as a nuisance, and at worst as a barrier to progress. For citizens in these countries, however, environmental assessments and their rigorous judicial enforcement may provide the only mechanism available to hold governments accountable for their decisions on major infrastructure projects. This Article describes the legal battle over one such project, the Chalillo dam in Belize. Plans by a Canadian-owned utility to build the hydroelectric facility on Belize's Macal River sparked a national and international debate and culminated in the first environmental lawsuit to reach the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, the highest court of appeal for Belize. Belizean environmental groups argued, inter alia, that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the dam was fundamentally flawed, containing errors in the geological description of the dam's foundation. In an unusually divided 3-2 ruling, the Privy Council upheld Belize's decision to allow construction of the dam. The majority judgment discounted the geological flaws in the EIA, ruling Copyright © 2008 by the Regents of the University of California. Project Attorney, International Technical Assistance Program, U.S. Department of the Interior; B.S., Yale College, 1993; M.S., California Institute of Technology, 1998; J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2007. This Article represents the author's views, not his employer's. Mr. Hershowitz was previously Director of the BioGems Project, Latin America at the Natural Resources Defense Council. In that capacity, he worked with community and environmental groups in Belize to mount a multi- faceted international campaign challenging the construction of the Chalillo dam on Belize's Macal River, aspects of which are discussed in this Article. I am grateful to Jacob Scherr, my colleague, mentor and friend. I also thank Professor Judith Areen for her comments on this Article and encouragement in the publication process. I am indebted to Sharon Matola, Tony Garel, Candy and George Gonzalez, Lois Young, Mick and Lucy Fleming, Ambrose Tillett, Greg Malone, M. White, Elizabeth May, and many others in Belize and Canada who spoke out to save a small stretch of river in Belize.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most