Amazon Gas pipeline worries Environmentalists

The plan run a gas pipeline through the Amazon Rainforest has caught environmentalists off gaurd. Environmentalists fear that the pipeline will pollute waterways, destroy trees, and create roads that will allow for easier access to loggers.

"There are some aspects of the project that are, let's say, worrisome," said Roberto Smeraldi, of the Friends of the Earth-Brazil.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says the pipeline is a central part of his efforts to reduce dependence on the United States and its pressure for free-market policies known as the Washington Consensus.

It's "the beginning of the South American consensus", Chávez has said. "This pipeline is vital for us."

At a meeting in Brazil's capital in mid-January, the presidents of Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil promised to prepare in-depth studies for the 10 000km pipeline, stretching from Venezuela to Argentina, by mid-year.

Smeraldi said the short timetable seems unworkable.

"A government like Brazil's can't do similar studies for projects covering 500km after 10 years of discussion, and now they are going to manage in-depth studies for a 10 000km project in six months?" he said.

Smeraldi said he believes the pipeline theoretically could be built with minimal impact to the environment, but the cost would be prohibitive.

Glenn Switkes, of the International Rivers Network, said if the pipeline were ever built, it would inevitably foul the environment.

"There are a lot of issues involved: direct construction, the question of drainage, all the roads that need to be built," Switkes said.

Roads are particularly devastating to the Amazon rainforest. They allow ranchers, loggers and miners to flood into areas that previously were inaccessible. Environmentalists estimate that each road cut into the rainforest causes destruction of the forest for 50km on each side of the road within a few years.

"They always say they're going to fly in the pipes and not build roads, but they never do that," Switkes said. "Then they say that the pipeline will go around important ecological areas, but they never do that either because it gets too expensive."

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Time will tell what the real outcome will be to the environment.

Tags: amazon rainforest , pipeline , brazil