2023-06-12 03:17:00
Amid huge security measuresa company began to break the cement block in which three transformers from the Plottier Electric Cooperative were buried, which allegedly contain PCBs, a highly toxic refrigerant substance whose use is prohibited by law.
The work was delayed partly due to weather conditions but largely because they could not find a company willing to carry out the risky taskindicated the chief prosecutor for Environmental Crimes, Maximiliano Breide Obeid.
The cement block with the three transformers, which could be four, was unearthed during a judicial operation on May 4 and transferred to a secure property in Añelo.
“They are losing fluid”reported the chief prosecutor. Work is done with extreme caution given the possibility that it is PCB.
The missing drums and transformer
Two other transformers that were on public roads were “lowered” the same day of the raid, in a warehouse its content was transferred to drums or drumsand then they were referred to Mendoza.
One of the directors of the Cooperative, Humberto Peñalver, is credited with the maneuver of burying the three transformers and emptying the other two before removing them from the province. The drums with PCBs were taken away in his truck, and the prosecution still hasn’t found them. Neither is a sixth transformer, which may be in the concrete block.
Breide Obeid clarified that “burying transformers is not a crime, the crime is having transformers with PCBs”. What you need to prove is how many managers of the Cooperative knew of its existence. Peñalver is compromised by several testimonies, he indicated.
The results of the studies
Regarding the possible contamination of the soil, the Cooperative that Facundo Gaitán presides on an interim basis reported days ago that the laboratory results were negative. For the chief prosecutor, “it is good that they have carried out these studies, but the ones that have value for the investigation are the official ones, the ones that we did».
those results will be known in the next few days.
The burial of birds
Last week, as reported black river newspaper, the mayor of Plottier and elected lieutenant governor, Gloria Ruiz, announced that she will request the intervention of the Cooperative. She also expressed her interest in constituting the municipality as a plaintiff.
For that he met with Breide Obeid, who took the opportunity to notify you of a criminal investigation opened by the burial of thousands of birds sacrificed by bird flu, in which what the protocols indicate may not have been followed.
Ruiz defended himself with the argument that they had met all the requirements demanded by Senasabut apparently there is a report from the National Agrifood Health and Quality Service indicating that some steps were not correct.
Water Resources of the province of Neuquén was also involved, because near the burial site there is a canal with water. There is a crossover of responsibilities between agencies (Senasa, Municipality and Water Resources) in addition to the open criminal case, which for now it has no defendants.
The family political plot is broader
The political, judicial and family plot behind the investigation of the transformers, advanced by this means, holds more surprises.
It was already known that the complaint that made it possible to find the buried devices It was formulated by councilwoman Marisa Torres San Juan, a political ally of Gloria Ruiz.
The president of the Electric Cooperative, on leave, is Sergio Soto, current councilor and candidate for mayor for the Neuquén Popular Movement. In the exercise of the presidency is Facundo Gaitán, brother of Raúl Gaitán, state prosecutor for the province.
Both Soto and Gaitán were notified that the investigation involves themalthough until now the only one charged was against Peñalver.
The legal adviser of the Municipality of Plottier was the daughter of Peñalver. Ruiz had to move her when his father was accused.
Humberto Peñalver appointed Marcelo Jara, a retired former prosecutor, brother-in-law of the chief prosecutor for Economic Crimes Pablo Vignaroli, as his defender. with much arrival to the State Attorney, Raúl Gaitán and his second, Alejo Bolan Reina.
Jara did not enroll to practice the profession again, so the defense was exercised by Eduardo Esandi, relative of an employee of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, daughter of Marcelo Jara.
To all this, the sector of Rolando Figueroa and Gloria Ruiz He has not yet defined who his candidate for mayor will be for the September 3 elections. Just in case, the future governor has already made sure that in electoral justice there is a man he trusts: Mario Nicolini.
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