Atanor in the eye of the storm: threat of layoffs and accusations amid an environmental crisis

The crisis at the Atanor agrochemical plant in San Nicolás has taken an alarming turn in recent days, revealing not only a labor confrontation, but also a judicial and political one.

On March 20, an explosion at the Atanor atrazine plant triggered a series of events that have the community of San Nicolás in suspense. After the accident, which generated a toxic cloud over nearby neighborhoods, the courts ordered the temporary closure of the plant to assess the environmental risks.

However, far from collaborating with the process, the company is deploying a confrontational strategy that includes suspensions and threats of mass layoffs, blaming the judiciary for the crisis.

The conflict escalated when Atanor fired 15 employees, in a clear attempt to pressure the judicial authorities, hold environmental groups responsible – with the Civil Association Environmental Forum of San Nicolás (FOMEA) at the head – and launch a strategy to seek public support.

Even though the judge Luciana Diaz Bancalariin charge of the case, tried to speed up the judicial process, the company visibly delayed the procedures necessary to reopen the plant, fueling uncertainty and fear in the community.

In this context, from the Criminal Enforcement Court No. 1 of the San Nicolás Judicial Department, they told the news site Certain Thing that “The judicial function in the case is to preserve the health of the population and the environment”.

Sources close to the conflict suggest that behind this maneuver there are real estate interests that involve figures from the Municipal Government, particularly the family Passagewayinvestigated by the Federal Court for illicit enrichment and money laundering, in a case in which the controversial judge plays a key role Marcelo Bailaquewho has added complaints for his alleged links with drug trafficking Esteban Alvaradodetained in Ezeiza prison.

By the way, in recent days the senator Carolina Losada He asked the Council of the Judiciary to investigate whether the magistrate shared an accountant with the criminal chief and also the socialist legislator Lionella Cattalini has just filed a criminal complaint against him.

According to the versions that win San Nicolás, the company would be seeking to justify the closure of the plant in order to move it to a property linked to the Passagewayin what would be a lucrative real estate transaction.

Meanwhile, the dismissed workers and the community remain trapped in a situation of uncertainty, with the plant remaining closed and the legal process continuing.

Atanor’s strategy, which mixes labor pressures with accusations against Justice, reveals a complex web of interests that goes beyond a simple labor conflict and that once again has the Passageway in the center of the scene.

Another compelling element of connection is that Atanor and the family Passageway They share a lawyer: Juan Carlos Marchetti. But that’s not all, some media in San Nicolás published that the legal professional is a municipal supplier (No. 2016). That is, he would receive his fees to defend the Passageway with public funds.

Marchettiformer federal judge of the dictatorship, is the defender of thefamily Passageway in the federal case of illicit enrichment and money laundering and is also the legal representative of Atanor.

Also in the Federal Court

Atanor is not only being investigated by the Justice of the Province of Buenos Aires. At the Federal level there is also a case where environmental contamination is proven.

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The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Matias Felipe Di Lellorequested the investigation of all the directors and managers of the company and the Court of Appeals of Rosario must resolve the matter, since the judge Carlos Villafuerte Ruzo promptly did not make room.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses them of contaminating the course of the Paraná River, its ravines, the soil and the air, by spreading particles in the environment and dumping effluents into the river, which contained hazardous waste categorized as Y4 waste, putting public health at risk, particularly that of the residents of Barrio Química and Ponce de León.

A high level of atrazine was detected in the liquid samples of the waste, as well as a high level of cypermethrin and trifuraline in solid samples.

“The evidence in the case file is conclusive and the testimonial statements of the victims, attached to the thick evidence, are as painful as they are distressing,” they say.