Documents and publications
Newsletter Nº 24
December 17, 2004

CONTENT:

1. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF DUE TO HIGH LEVEL OF NOISES
   AND TBA TRAINS' VIBRATIONS
   
   
2. FARN AT COP 10

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INJUNCTIVE RELIEF DUE TO HIGH LEVEL OF NOISES
AND TBA TRAINS' VIBRATIONS
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On December 17th, neighbours from the Barrio de Flores presented an injunctive relief against the Company TBA S.A and the Executive Branch (Department of Economy) due to the high level of noises and vibrations detected in the houses near the railway ex Sarmiento - Company TBA. This injunctive relief, sponsored by the lawyers of the Program "Citizen Control Program on Environment", from the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales - FARN) tends to obtain the necessary elements and means in order to reduce the level of noises, and improve the quality of life of the neighbours living near the railways, as well as avoid further material harms to their properties. Likewise, it was asked a periodically maintenance of the railways and a change in the sound of the alarm in order to secure the quality of the environment and health, and the quality of life of the neighbours.

Regarding the technical measurements carried out by the Government of the City, the levels of noises show about 80 decibels (dBA). The vibrations' measurements showed about 40 m/s2. It is important to outline that the specialists said that - and in accordance with the recommended by the World Health Organization- the noise must not exceed the 70 dBA, not to cause harms to the ears.

The exam carried out in 2003 by the General Audit of the Nation in the ambit CNRT and the Company TBA outlined that regarding the "Infrastructure (railways and train stations): The different components of the railway system are in a deficitary state"." Likewise, it says that the Board of the TBA, through their last Annual Memories, recognizes the damage of the maintenance of the machines and installations ceded in concession, and the TBA does not carry out the repairing of the detected failures in the inspections carried out by the CNRT. Finally, it was decided to (among the proposed recommendations in the said report) intimate the licensee company to fulfill with the maintenance works to guarantee the correct maintenance of the concessioned goods and the operative security of the system.

In the other hand, in January 2004 the Office of the Ombudsman of the City exhorted the CNRT to arbitrate the measures to verify the general state of the railways in all their components (rails, dormant, fixations, ballast, platform, etc.) in a way that the good performance of the railways reduces the present level of vibrations.

Finally, in a report for the Sub-secretariat of Rail Transport carried out by CNRT in July 2004, regarding the state of the railways of the ex-Sarmiento Railway in the Barrio de Flores of the City of Buenos Aires, and as from several inspections, it was decided that these ones "agree that the problem regarding the hitting, followed by the noises and vibrations, are situated in the "juntas", and as the railways were verified for a long time, and the extreme of the rails suffered plastic deformations ….; the licensee company has tried to solve the problem solding the extreme of the affected rails, which was not effective".

With this action, the neighbours hope to finish with this big problem in their quality of life, because they have been suffering this for several years.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

   Article of Clarín Newspaper
   http://www.clarin.com/diario/2004/12/17/laciudad/h-06501.htm

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2. FARN AT COP 10
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On December 16th, FARN organized the side-event "Measuring Performance of the project Initiative on Environmental Enforcement and Compliance Indicators for Argentina - Water and Air", in the framework of the 10th Conference of the Parts from the Convention of the United Nations on Climate Change (COP 10), that was carried out in the City of Buenos Aires.

The "Initiative on Environmental Enforcement and Compliance Indicators", aims at identifying and evaluating environmental enforcement and compliance indicators through pilot actions, taking into account two issues: water and air.

This project is carried out with the support and sponsorship of the World Bank Institute and together with the following institutions: CEPAL, INECE, CEIBA from Mexico and the Institute Right for a Green Planet Brazil.

Likewise, it was carried out the ceremony of the Adriana Schiffrin Essay Prize - 2004, whose jury was composed of Dra. Andrea Brusco, Dra. María Cristina Garros Martínez and Dr. Leonardo de Benedectis.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

    Initiative on Environmental Compliance
    and Enforcement Indicators for Argentina
    http://www.farn.org.ar/investigacion/enforcement/indicadores.html

    Adriana Schiffrin Essay Prize - 2004
    http://www.farn.org.ar/investigacion/premio/