The Ministry of the Environment began an investigation to verify if the television host Marcelo Tinelli went back down to the beach in a quad, a fact for which has been fined in previous summersreported Telemundo and confirmed to El Observador, the undersecretary of the Environment, Gerardo Amarilla.
Last Tuesday, Tinelli uploaded a photo to his Instagram stories in which he is seen driving an ATV on the beach. “Beautiful day in Punta”, wrote the Argentine driver.
As a result of that photo, the ministry, through the National Directorate for Environmental Quality and Assessment (DINACEA), is investigating whether the photo was actually taken these days and will try to identify if Tinelli was driving in a coastal or protected area.
If this is the case, the portfolio has the power to fine the driver. This sanction can go from 2 to 1,000 Readjustable Units, that is, between $3,000 and $1,500,000, according to the last updated value. However, as Tinelli has been fined for this same act on other occasions, the figure may increase.
Tinelli settled in his maritime farm in José Ignacio with his family at the end of December.
In 2017, when the National Directorate for the Environment (Dinama) saw photos of the driver driving a quadricycle on the beach, it sent him a letter to notify him of his infraction and about the consequences that this has on the environment and the dunes. This was explained by the then director of the Environment, Alejandro Nario, to The Observer.
The driver was fined 25 resettable unitswhich corresponded to $23,247 in its current value.
According to Nario, Tinelli then contacted Dinama to assume the error and to make himself available to the organization to collaborate with the defense and care of the dunes.
This was the third time that the Argentine received a fine for the same cause. In 2016, the Prefecture fined Tinelli $12,000 after his car was seen driving on the beaches of José Ignacio while being driven by a person close to the driver, FM Gente reported at the time. In 2015, the situation was similar: the Prefecture also fined the driver and withdrew his license.
