Hahn et al. v. APR Energy S.R.L (Juvevir Asociación Civil v. APR Energy and Araucaria Energy)

In November 2017, a coalition of individuals and nonprofits brought a preventive action against two thermoelectric power stations Matheu II (APR Energy) and Matheu III (Araucaria), located in the Argentinian city of Pilar. The petition seeks to block the plants on different environmental grounds, including that their construction began without a required environmental assessment, and that the plants are inconsistent with international climate agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement because they will use fossil fuels. The complaint also relies on Argentina's civil code, Constitution and General Law of the Environment, as well as a number of international human rights treaties. On November 30 and December 21, 2017, the Federal Court of Campana granted precautionary measures halting the construction and operation of the plants. The Court based its decisions on the General Act of the Environment (Act 25.675), the protection of collective interests (Art. 14 of the Civil and Commercial Code) and the prevention of damages (Art. 1.711 of the Civil and Commercial Code). Climate impacts were not expressly addressed by the Court. These decisions were upheld by the Federal Court of Appeals of San Martin. After a requirement by Araucaria, on December 22, 2022, the Federal Court of Campana partially modified the precautionary measure allowing the provisional (six months) and partial (two turbines) operation of the power plant Matheu III, under the monitoring of the Municipality of Pilar. The global energy crisis and the rising of energy prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine were some of the grounds alleged. On June 29, 2023, the Court decided not to renew the partial allowance of operation of the plant Matheu III after receiving a negative report from the Municipality of Pilar due to noise pollution. It is worth mentioning that, according to this order, the company APR Energy has presented a Plan for the abandonment of the plant Matheu II. On February 05, 2024, the Federal Court of Appeal of San Martín uphold the decision of the Federal Court regarding the operation of the plant Matheu III. Furthermore, it asked APR Energy to submit to the Ministry of the Environment a closing audit and to the water authority a notification of the activity’s cease.