Presidente Ricardo Lagos
Palacio de la Moneda
Santiago, Chile

RE: Proposed Hydroelectric project in Patagonia

Dear Presidente Lagos,

I am extremely concerned about plans of the Canadian mining company Noranda Inc. for the Alumysa project, which involves a massive aluminum smelter and a highly destructive hydroelectric project in the pristine Aisen region. The project seriously threatens your nation's Patagonian rainforest, one of the American continents' last extensive temperate coastal rainforests. The project is clearly ecologically and economically unsustainable.

The Alumysa project includes the construction of three hydroelectric centers in three different watersheds close to Puerto Aisen, which will result in the drowning of thousands of acres of temperate evergreen rainforest and increased road building and habitat fragmentation. There are also grave concerns about water and air pollution associated with the smelter itself.

I join millions of concerned citizens worldwide in urging that you protect your nation's precious resources by refusing to approve the environmental impact statement for the Alumysa Project.

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