After discovering environmental violations and the presence of polluted waste in the area Salt riverthis Wednesday processing Refrigerator head La Canaria SA Located in Buenos Aires Rocky Perez. Meanwhile, he ordered A total amount of 10 million pounds was confiscated.
The decision was made by a federal judge blue, Gabriel Di GiulioWho ordered the measure is at the head of the director Illegal disposal of polluted liquid waste In the ecosystem Salt riverIn violation of Law No. 24.051 regarding hazardous waste. This decision responded to the request of Public Prosecutor Santiago Ihirrabide and is supported by an investigation that revealed repeated environmental violations by the company.
The origins of the case go back to a complaint filed by Financial Unit for Investigations in Environmental Matters (UFIMA)headed by the Federal Public Prosecutor Ramiro GonzalezThis came after press photos were published that showed the direct discharge of industrial liquid waste into water connected to the Rio Salado network.
According to the reconstruction carried out by the site ProsecutorsThe case has been filed in Azul since November 2023 after the Dolores Federal Court declared it lacked jurisdiction.
In parallel, Water Authority (ADA)he Ministry of Environment of Buenos Aires Province and Environmental Crimes Department of the Argentine Federal Police They analyzed the situation and confirmed the presence of repeated environmental violations.
Reports revealed that on at least three occasions between 2023 and 2025, polluting agents that exceeded legal limits were detected.
For this reason, for the judgeFrequent and regular presence of BOD (biological oxygen demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), total phosphorus, settleable solids, and fecal coliforms above permissible limits“, which constituted the presence of hazardous waste capable of affecting the environment and public health.
In his decision, Di Giulio stressed that the frequency of the discharges, their polluting potential and their ultimate destination towards the Salado River allow the criminal hypothesis stipulated in Article 55 of Law 24.051 to be considered proven.
This rule stipulates prison sentences ranging from three to ten years for anyone who “uses the waste referred to in this law and poisons, adulterates, or pollutes in a way that poses a threat to health, soil, water, the atmosphere, or the environment in general.”
For his part, the accused director chose not to give a statement and submitted a written defence, in which he said that the events were consistent with administrative violations and that the company had made improvements.
But the judge held that these arguments were not able to distort the results of the inspections or the technical evidence obtained in the raids and official sampling, elements that were crucial in shaping the criminal liability investigated.
As a result, the court decided to try the company’s president without pretrial detention, ordered the imposition of a 10 million peso ban to secure potential financial liabilities and future environmental reconfiguration measures, and rejected the defense’s motion for dismissal. Since no procedural risks were detected, no measures of personal coercion were ordered against the accused.
The decision became a relevant precedent for strengthening criminal protection of the environment, in line with the institutional guidelines it promoted Public Prosecutor’s Office. Among them stands out “Rio Declaration on Combating Organized Crime and Promoting Justice and Social and Environmental Sustainability“, signed in October 2024 by the Acting Attorney General, Eduardo Casale.
The Decentralized Finance Headquarters stressed that this trial, the first in environmental criminal matters in Azul, represents a fundamental advance in strengthening environmental judicial policy in the region. In addition, it was emphasized that the measure reaffirms the commitment of industries to adapt their activity to existing regulations and reinforces the institutional commitment to prevent and punish behavior that endangers water resources, public health, and the legal rights of the constitutional hierarchy.