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Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman and Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro reached an agreement that establishes the characteristics of the monitoring plan for the ex Botnia pulp mill and the Uruguay River.

The agreement was reached during a meeting held at the Palacio Santos, Uruguay's Foreign Ministry headquarters.

The monitoring committee will begin its activities at the UPM pulp mill and the mouth of the Gualeguaychú River. The monitoring missions will then continue in Argentina in a spot that will be chosen by Uruguay's government and will then continue alternately in either country.

On the Argentine side, the committee includes Juan Carlos Colombo, who has a doctorate in chemistry, and engineer William Stephen Lyons, both of whom were appointed by the Foreign Ministry last week.

In addition to two scientists chosen by the Uruguayan government, Colombo and Lyons will be responsible for controlling the Uruguay River and all industrial, agricultural and urban centres that transfer their waste into the river's waters.

In September 2009, Colombo joined the Argentine delegation that travelled to the hearings held in the International Court of Justice in Hague, where as a researcher responsible for Biogeochemical aspects of the Environmental Monitoring Plan of the River Uruguay, was the coordinator and in charge of presenting the scientific arguments presented by the Argentine government before the court.

Meanwhile, Lyons specializes in Sanitary Engineering, and is also responsible for the Environmental Monitoring Plan of the River Uruguay. In January of 2009, Lyons was appointed as head of the Environmental Control National Direction, which reports to the Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat. In September last year, he also joined the Argentine delegation in Hague as an adviser to the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay (CARU).

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