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Open invitation to visit Botnia and its mills to verify how the company operates

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Botnia has been very open in its communication about the pulp mill project in
Uruguay, however, there is no denial that a strong opposition has been formed
in Entre Ríos, Argentina. The opposition continues because it has been very
difficult to get through truthful information. CEDHA and other non-governmental
organisations are in a key position, first to understand that the accusations
are false and second, to correct the misinformation that has been circulated.
Therefore we want to present an open invitation to CEDHA and other interested
parties to visit Botnia in Finland, or in Uruguay to see how we operate. In
Finland we would be happy to show our existing pulp mills which we operate
under the same principles as will be done in Fray Bentos - Uruguay. In case you
are interested in visiting us, please contact us through our web page. 

Together with this open invitation we want to correct some of the
misinformation that has been spread about our company and our project. 

    *  Botnia currently operates five bleached kraft pulp mills in Finland with
an outstanding environmental record. It has committed from the very beginning
to construct a mill in Uruguay which will be the company's environmental
flagship and top of the world in its class. The process selections have been
done according to the European guidelines of best available techniques. Due to
the state of the art design, the mill though large in capacity will have one of
the lowest discharges when compared to other pulp mills in the world. 
    * The mill location has been carefully analysed from all aspects already
before starting the site-specific environmental and socio-economical impact
studies. As we know from Finland, cities with modern pulp mills do flourish
economically, without loosing their environmental or tourist values. 
    * CEDHA often refers to dioxins: Over the last decade, field studies,
research and analysis have demonstrated that treated wastewater from
well-managed, state-of-the-art pulp and paper mills using ECF bleaching is
virtually free of dioxins and furans. The remaining chlorine containing organic
substances (AOX) resulting from ECF bleaching have a composition similar to
naturally-occurring compounds and thus degrade naturally. These findings are
accepted as scientific facts amongst experts in pulp mill technology. The best
evidence of this general acceptance is the adoption of ECF light bleaching as
Best Available Techniques (BAT), under the standards issued by the European
Union. The EU's standards are specifically designed to minimize environmental
impacts and ensure compliance with, among other treaties, the International
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the so-called POP's
treaty. 
    * Studies already made demonstrate that there are no adverse impacts on the
watershed produced by eucalyptus plantations. Long-term studies are also being
conducted as continuous development and renewal is one of our basic values. 
    * The possible impacts on tourism have been carefully assessed in the EIA.
There is no reason to believe the project will have a negative impact on
tourism. Quite the contrary. As the economy is developing we expect an increase
in people visiting the area. We also expect an improvement in the quality of
the river water if the Fray Bentos Municipal City effluent is treated in our
effluent treatment plant. 
    * The project will not affect the health of workers, residents or local
communities. The only possible health impacts attributable to modern pulp mills
are those related to transportation (road accidents) as a consequence of the
increase in economic activity. This has been also verified by the Finnish
National Board of Health. There is no evidence about impacts of pulp mills in
relation to cancer, neurological deficits, depression or suicide. 
    * What comes to public participation: from the very moment the project was
announced in 2003, Botnia held public forums in Fray Bentos, in which also the
Entre Rios' neighbours were invited, and in some of which they also
participated. The Uruguayan law requested one disclosure at the end of the EIA
process, but several more were organised. 
    * Botnia EIA and its additional information have been and are available on
Botnia's web pages and at Fray Bentos municipal library. Botnia has also
supplied all the information requested by the Uruguayan government for the
bi-national committee, as well as to IFC and its consultants. 





                                            

                

            

        

    

    



    

        
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