The project "Modification of the AGAC Fairground," which includes the installation of a Dreams casino near the urban wetland Cajón del Río Claro and the Piduco stream in Talca, Maule region, has faced a new judicial setback after the Guarantee Court of that city accepted the lawsuit filed by the environmental organization Bio Eco Terra. This legal action targets potential criminal responsibilities related to the execution of the project without an environmental assessment, opening the door to sanctions that could affect both the project holders and public officials involved in the processing. It is worth noting that the project, valued at 21 million dollars, includes a high-impact complex: a gaming casino, restaurants, event halls, a convention center, and a commercial boulevard.
All of this is located in the former FITAL area, adjacent to the urban wetland Cajón del Río Claro and the Piduco stream, officially recognized in 2024 and subject to reinforced environmental protection standards. Evasion of the SEIA and contradictions in excavation depths The lawsuit filed by Bio Eco Terra against the project holder—Sociedad de Ríos Claros S. A.
—derives from a series of complaints alleging that this initiative may have evaded its entry into the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA), despite being located in a sensitive area with underground water tables. According to the information, in the relevance consultation presented to the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA), the holder reported that the excavations would not exceed 1. 4 to 1.
6 meters, which would rule out impacts on the aquifer. However, subsequent documents—including information presented by the company itself in court—would confirm excavations close to 3 meters, which is double the depth originally reported. If these facts are corroborated, the technical justification that allowed the project to be excluded from the SEIA would be called into question.
Risk to the aquifer and prior warnings It should be noted that all of this occurred despite prior technical information—…
Despite multiple citizen complaints, the Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) recently decided to request new information from the DGA to assess possible damages, which has been described by environmental organizations as a "delayed reaction" to already completed events. Additionally, the legal action coincides with the recent withdrawal by the government of José Antonio Kast of 43 environmental decrees from the previous administration by the Comptroller's Office, a fact that has raised doubts about the consistency of environmental policy and the continuity of certain regulatory standards. Possible criminal responsibilities In this context, Bio Eco Terra's lawsuit seeks to establish potential criminal responsibilities for providing contradictory or incomplete information to the authority, as well as for executing works that may have required mandatory environmental assessment.
The environmental organization has stated that this case questions not only the actions of the project holder but also the actions of public agencies that allowed the casino's installation to proceed without requiring entry into the SEIA, despite reports that have warned about its impacts on the urban wetland Cajón del Río Claro and the Piduco stream. Following the acceptance of the lawsuit by the court, the case of the casino in the Talca wetland adds a new judicial dimension, alongside ongoing administrative processes and increasing social pressure to ensure the protection of urban wetlands. What is at stake is not just a casino in Talca, but the real effectiveness of the environmental assessment system against economic power.