Portugal’s animals and nature party has filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office for the pollution in the Tagus River.
The party, aka André Silva – its lone MP - based his complaint on what he considers to be the "drastic worsening of the pollution situation," which has led to several requests for intervention by the presidents of various councils along the worst parts of the river and from the ProTejo environmental movement.
For PAN, the activity of factories that are polluting the river should be suspended as they are committing an environmental crime and are “continuing this criminal activity."
The party’s MP also accuses the Ministry of the Environment of "indifference" to the situation,"PAN understands that it is doing what the Ministry of the Environment should have done a long time ago - to request the suspension of all polluting activities. We are facing a serious environmental crime that is leading to the ruin of the Tagus River," said André Silva.
Pro Tejo activist, Arlindo Consolado Marques, is clear as to the identity of one of the culprits as the pollution only happens downstream of Vila Velha de Ródão,
"We all know that the culprit is the pulp mill, everyone already knows this," says Marques, referring to the emissions of effluents by Celtejo - Empresa de Celulose do Tejo, S.A., which produces Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp (BEKP) for paper production.
Portugal's Environment Minister this week visited the area and said that he saw no dead fish, so everything is perfectly legal.
See also: 'Millions of Tagus fish dead - EC well aware of 'killer pulp mill''
