Environmental organisation, Zero, has blasted the Minister of the Environment for an illegal, misguided and bizarre plan to dump 30,000 m3 of pulp mill waste from the Tagus river bed onto to highly protected land.ZERO has openly questioned the Ministry of the Environment as to how the plan to remove the waste at the bottom of the Fratel reservoir and dump the foul contents onto protected land at Vila Velha de Ródão, fits in with current environment protection laws covering natural protected areas.
Zero points out that Decree-Law no. 7/2009, relating to the Protected Area of the Natural Monument of the Portas de Ródão, states that the discharge of effluents of any nature and the depositing of waste is strictly prohibited.
The Minister of the Environment is happy to dump 30,000 m3 of waste from the bottom of the reservoir onto the land to allow it to drain before it is transported to a ‘final destination.’
This waste is classified as dredging sludge and has a strong component of decaying organic waste. Letting it sit and drain onto protected land is bad enough but much of the foul liquid run-off could end up back in the river, further polluting the water.
The area targeted for the sludge dump also is classified as National Ecological Reserve, meaning any such activity is strictly prohibited.
Questions already have been asked as to why the Ministry is pushing ahead with the clean-up operation at public expense when it is by no means assured that pulp producer Celtejo will be obliged to pay the bill. Celtejo had denied causing any pollution at its Vila Velha de Ródão 'Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp' plant, even though its own records show it has exceeded its effluent dumping allowance in each of the past three years.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, this company is responsible for 90% of the effluent discharged by the pulp and paper industries in Vila Velha de Rodão, so it should be sent the clean-up bill,
Dealing with the now infamous ‘blanket of foam’ (see picture above) cost the taxpayer €1 million and the cost of dredging large areas of reservoir and river bed has yet to be announced by the Ministry.
As for the field of sludge, ZERO suggests that this should be treated on land at the industrial zones in Vila Velha de Ródão, back where the pollution problem started.
