{"id":60092278,"date":"2025-07-30T16:04:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60092278"},"modified":"2025-08-04T14:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T13:02:30","slug":"the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/","title":{"rendered":"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Copper is increasingly hot property. Electric vehicles require at least twice<\/a> as much copper as traditional cars; solar and wind energy projects require between four and six times<\/a> more than fossil fuel-based systems. Copper is fundamental to the global energy transition and, given that it produces<\/a> more copper than any other country, Chile is a key player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2023 to 2024 alone, Chile\u2019s exports of the mineral to China, its largest market, grew by more than 19%<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mining activity is concentrated in the northern region of Antofagasta, where copper is the driving force behind the economy and prosperity of its nearly 700,000 residents. Copper mining is known as \u201cChile\u2019s salary\u201d while Codelco, the state mining company and world\u2019s largest<\/a> copper producer, has been accused in the Chilean senate of being a \u201cstate within the state<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calama in Antofagasta is considered Chile\u2019s copper mining capital. This city of almost 200,000<\/a> people is 2,400 metres above sea level in the Atacama Desert, and fed by the Loa River. To the north of Calama lies a huge industrial mining complex, which concentrates most of Antofagasta\u2019s 126,000<\/a> mining-related jobs. From here, Codelco operates three huge mines, including Chuquicamata<\/a>, the world\u2019s second-deepest open-pit mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impressive,\u201d says the Calama native Andrea V\u00e1squez Alfaro, as she looks out from her car at the walls of the Talabre tailings dam. This 30-kilometre-long barrier contains a slurry lagoon, all just 10 kilometres from the city centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tailings dams:<\/p>

Designed to prevent the liquid and solid waste created during mining processes \u2013 known as \u201ctailings\u201d \u2013 from contaminating nearby communities and environments<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Waste from the Chuquicamata mine has been accumulating in Talabre since 1952<\/a>. In recent decades, waste from the Radimiro Tomic and Divisi\u00f3n Ministro Hales mines has also been dumped here. All three are operated by Codelco, alongside Australia\u2019s BHP, which also has other operations<\/a> in Chile. Because of its mountain-like colour and dimensions, the tailings deposit looks like just another formation in the middle of the desert \u2013 a factor that helps to conceal its danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt never stops impressing me, nor do I want it to stop impressing me, because the day that happens means that I have normalised it, that I have normalised this landscape of hell,\u201d V\u00e1squez Alfaro says after a long silence. A sociologist, she also directs the coordinating committee for the Defence of the Loa River and Mother Earth. This is the main local environmental group at the forefront of lobbying the authorities over Calama\u2019s environmental and health crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exposed surface of Talabre\u2019s tailings dump is being perpetually eroded by the wind and dispersed into the wider environment. In turn, failures in the containment systems have caused the dam to contaminate groundwater, reaching the Loa River and the city\u2019s main aquifer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questioning mining here is like questioning the homeland or religion<\/blockquote>Andrea V\u00e1zquez Alfaro, Defence of the Loa River and Mother Earth<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Prompted by a complaint filed in 2019, Chile\u2019s environmental regulators filed charges<\/a> against Codelco in August last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V\u00e1squez Alfaro has joined forces with Sergio Chamorro, the lawyer representing the National Federation of Chilean Villagers (Fenapo<\/a>), and Reinaldo Diaz Duk, who runs Calama\u2019s municipal environmental monitoring station. Together, they lead a coalition of 20 social organisations, the Coordinadora<\/em>, which is pursuing a legal claim of environmental contamination against the state \u2013 following almost two decades of complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuestioning mining here is like questioning the homeland or religion,\u201d says V\u00e1squez Alfaro. \u201cIt is a culture that only understands exploitation. For them, there is no life in the desert, only resources, and we are a hindrance. But we are not going to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollution and disease<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Appreciating the scale<\/a> of an open-pit mine can be overwhelming. Every element is counted by the thousands or millions: the rock, dynamite, toxic chemicals, industrial acids and detergents. Adding to this picture is the water requirements, the heavy machinery that operates for much of the day, and the polluting residues. But Calama does not have one open-pit mine \u2013 it has three. The Radimiro Tomic, 40 kilometres from the city, the giant Chuquicamata, 20 kilometres away, and at a mere 15 kilometres\u2019 distance, the Divisi\u00f3n Ministro Hales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"open-pit<\/div>
The Divisi\u00f3n Ministro Hales open-pit mine in Calama. Located in one of the Chilean regions with the highest cancer mortality rates, Calama was considered \u201csaturated\u201d with particles that breached the national air pollution limit more than 15 years ago (Image: Paul Plaza<\/a> \/ Senado de la Rep\u00fablica de Chile<\/a>, CC BY NC SA<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is the \u201chellish\u201d landscape V\u00e1squez Alfaro refers to. The wind from the Andes blows the accumulating mining dust across Calama every night. Respite does not come until midday, when the warmer currents of the Pacific Ocean clean the air for a few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a century of intensive, large-scale copper mining in Antofagasta has created both social and environmental consequences. The region has one of the highest<\/a> cancer mortality rates in the country, according to Ministry of Health data; lung cancer rates are almost three times<\/a> the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, the government declared<\/a> Calama to be \u201csaturated\u201d with particles that breached national air pollution limits. Annual monitoring has indicated uninterrupted saturation ever since. These heavy metal particles include lead, arsenic, nickel, molybdenum and cadmium, which are extremely detrimental to health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

According to Chilean regulations, authorities should have enforced the implementation of an environmental decontamination plan no later than 12 months after declaring saturation. That plan was presented<\/a> in May 2022, 13 years later. Immediately rejected<\/a> by citizens and groups including the Coordinadora, the plan was accused of being based on false scenarios, and of providing insufficient solutions. It was accepted by the authorities, but later annulled<\/a> by Chile\u2019s supreme environmental court \u2013 the same court that accepted<\/a> the environmental pollution lawsuit led by Coordinadora in April this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judgment ruled that \u201cthe environmental authority removed a monitoring station that previously served as the basis for declaring the city a saturated zone\u201d, which meant there was not enough data to properly prepare a decontamination plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A potentially historic demand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born in Chuquicamata to a family of miners, Reinaldo D\u00edaz Duk spent 20 years working for a company that provided air pollution monitoring services to Codelco. He was fired in 2015, after which he decided to share his accumulated knowledge with the organisations fighting back. In 2023, D\u00edaz Duk took charge of Chile\u2019s first<\/a> municipal air monitoring station, which is financed by the municipality of Calama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe station is our tool for refuting the false narrative that pollution is decreasing [claimed by Codelco<\/a>], keeping us far removed from the manipulation of the past,\u201d explains D\u00edaz Duk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monitoring station also functions as an awareness-raising tool. D\u00edaz Duk regularly organises training workshops and informative talks for neighbours and students, teaching them how to operate the station and take samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air pollution saturation levels remain high. Recent scientific studies have revealed an increase<\/a> of heavy metals present in the environment during periods of heightened mining activity, as well as dispersion covering a radius of as much as 80 kilometres<\/a>. Meanwhile, media alerts and public denouncements<\/a> from the Chilean Medical Association (CMC), which has described the situation as a health emergency, reinforce citizens\u2019 demands. Other warnings detail higher rates of respiratory disease, cancer, and children<\/a> with autism and genetic syndromes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Calama was declared saturated, permits have been granted for more than 700 mining projects that affect air pollution in the region<\/blockquote>Sergio Chamorro, lawyer from the National Federation of Chilean Villagers<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sergio Chamorro is the lead trial lawyer in the supreme environmental court case. He also represents several Indigenous communities in other mining-related cases. Chamorro explains to Dialogue Earth that the state has systematically failed to safeguard public health and enforce decontamination \u2013 despite its legal obligation<\/a> to do so in cases of saturation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the lawsuit, we show that since Calama was declared saturated, permits have been granted for more than 700 mining projects that affect air pollution in the region,\u201d says Chamorro. These approved projects have included nine<\/a> expansions to the Talabre tailings dam and the creation of the Ministro Hales Division mine in 2010; Codelco plans to continue<\/a> exploiting and expanding the latter for the next 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dialogue Earth approached the environment and health ministries, and the implicated companies for comment but received no response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe state will want to negotiate, to commit to another dialogue table, another mediating body. But all that has already failed many times here in Calama. Our intention is to see this through to the end,\u201d says Chamorro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He clarifies that the claimants are seeking a ruling. \u201cThe first thing we want is that, as the law says, the polluter pays \u2013 in this case, Codelco. And then that the granting of new permits is completely cancelled. Finally, we want the state to do what it has never done so far: studies on the health of the population that determine the degree of impacts, and the appropriate compensation for those who are proven to have been harmed by the contamination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody here can be against copper mining,\u201d concludes Chamorro. \u201cThat is not where we stand. We understand its importance, both for the region and for the country and the world. What we are against is this model to which we are subjected. Of resigning ourselves to live and die contaminated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50000803,"featured_media":60092290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[760],"tags":[560,50040749,566],"hashtags":[],"country":[50000024],"class_list":["post-60092278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pollution","tag-law","tag-livelihoods","tag-mining","country-chile"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T15:04:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-04T13:02:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ignacio Conese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ignacio Conese\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2dcb3a4bb8a6d897c9a8349553377d49\"},\"headline\":\"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T15:04:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-04T13:02:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\"},\"wordCount\":1559,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Law\",\"Livelihoods\",\"Mining\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pollution\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\",\"name\":\"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T15:04:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-04T13:02:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"mining truck surrounded by rubble\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2dcb3a4bb8a6d897c9a8349553377d49\",\"name\":\"Ignacio Conese\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/ignacioconese\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/ignacioconese\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining | Dialogue Earth","description":"Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining","og_description":"Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2025-07-30T15:04:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-04T13:02:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ignacio Conese","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/"},"author":{"name":"Ignacio Conese","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2dcb3a4bb8a6d897c9a8349553377d49"},"headline":"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining","datePublished":"2025-07-30T15:04:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-04T13:02:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/"},"wordCount":1559,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg","keywords":["Law","Livelihoods","Mining"],"articleSection":["Pollution"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/","name":"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-30T15:04:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-04T13:02:30+00:00","description":"Living in the world\u2019s most productive copper mining region amid decades-long environmental pollution, citizens of Calama city are going to court","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mining-truck-in-Division-Ministro-Hales-mine_Paul-Plaza_Flickr_52907395482-1-scaled-e1753883934141.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"mining truck surrounded by rubble"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/the-pollution-lawsuit-that-could-shake-up-chilean-copper-mining\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The pollution lawsuit that could shake up Chilean copper mining"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2dcb3a4bb8a6d897c9a8349553377d49","name":"Ignacio Conese","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/ignacioconese\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/ignacioconese\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60092278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50000803"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60092278"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60092278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60092739,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60092278\/revisions\/60092739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60092290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60092278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60092278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60092278"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=60092278"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=60092278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}