"CUANDO EL RÍO SUENA, PIEDRAS TRAE": RELAVES DE COBRE EN LA BAHÍA DE CHAÑARAL, 1938-1990

Abstract

From the perspective of environmental history, this article focuses on the impact of the Large Scale Copper Industry on the province of Chanaral between 1938 and 1990. More specifi cally, it looks at the history beyond the 350 tons of copper tailings disposed in the Salado river and the Pacifi c ocean, fi rst by the U.S. company Andes Copper and later by Codelco-Chile. While local authorities decided to ignore the problem, local residents articulated a critical discourse, denouncing the polluting practices of the company. Moreover, this article raises questions about the traditional assumption that the nationalization represented a break in the history of the copper industry, showing -from the perspective of environmental history- the existence of important continuities.