Early in the morning of August 11th, the Mapuche communities Campo Maripe, Wirkaleo, Kaxipayiñ, Fvtaxayen and Newen Kvra decided to completely block the accesses to their territories in the Fortín de Piedra, Loma La Lata, Tratayen and Puesto Hernández oilfields “in defense of life and water”. The measure is because they are “fed up with waiting for answers presented in every way to stop an environmental disaster that affects life, territories, water, clean air and future”, their sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters.
There is police presence at the roadblocks. Simultaneously, the confederation carried out a protest at the Neuquén headquarters of YPF. There, Jorge Nahuel, from the Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén, in reference to fracking and hydrocarbon activity, denounced: “There are seismic movements, oil waste that accumulates by tons without being treated, contaminating the air and everything around it, and lately the water crisis as well, caused by an industry that consumes millions of liters of water for each of the drillings. There are 1,100 wells in Vaca Muerta and each one of them consumes between 10 and 30 million liters of water per well, so imagine the mistreatment that the whole ecosystem is receiving”.
“We need to bring to light once again, and urgently, the enormous damages to nature and, consequently, the direct affectation to the population of the region, due to the bad management and lack of control of the hydrocarbon and fracking industry”, said the Mapuche Confederation in the communiqué.
At the same time as the blockade measures, the Mapuche Confederation of Neuquén and social organizations have been carrying out a protest in front of the Neuquén headquarters of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), located on Talero Street, since 10 o’clock in the morning. A similar action was carried out on July 30 at the headquarters of Tecpetrol in the Industrial Park.
Jorge Nahuel, a member of the confederation, said: “We are here because YPF is the most abusive company, which permanently violates the environmental treaties that it should be complying with for the sake of our health and safety. In spite of the fact that it is a so-called flag company, it is the one that most violates the rights in Vaca Muerta, the one that grants concessions without any kind of conditions, when there is a whole series of regulations that must be complied with. As a consequence of all this abusive treatment by YPF with the complicity of the provincial and national government and the justice system, both provincial and federal, has brought about a dramatic situation that the communities are experiencing: earthquakes, seismic movements, oil waste that accumulates by tons without being treated, polluting the air and everything around it, and lately the water crisis as well, caused by an industry that consumes millions of liters of water for each drilling. There are 1,100 wells in Vaca Muerta and each one of them consumes between 10 and 30 million liters of water per well, so imagine the mistreatment that the whole ecosystem is receiving.”
Also in statements to the same media, Diego, representative of the Futa Trayen community that is carrying out one of the cuts in Tratayen, pointed out that “here we have a great need for water because the fields are very arid and today we have no place to reach the shores of the rivers with our animals because the traffic to Vaca Muerta is impressive. We have also been cut off from access to the farms. So it is difficult for us to have access to water”, said Diego and added: “YPF denies us electricity and water, so we want to create a table. We know that the companies ensure the water for the fractures where thousands and thousands of liters of water are used, and they deny us the water. We also want to call attention to the contamination and to the earthquakes which, although they did not touch us, we know of other brothers and sisters who did. Also for the oil dumps”.
Early in the morning of August 11th, the Mapuche communities Campo Maripe, Wirkaleo, Kaxipayiñ, Fvtaxayen and Newen Kvra decided to completely block the accesses to their territories in the Fortín de Piedra, Loma La Lata, Tratayen and Puesto Hernández oilfields “in defense of life and water”. The measure is because they are “fed up with waiting for answers presented in every way to stop an environmental disaster that affects life, territories, water, clean air and future”, their sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters.