Centroliva has decided to contest the decision to shut down its operations, taken by the Portuguese Environment Agency which also fined the serial polluter a total of €300,000 for a list of proven pollution events stretching back years.Centroliva Indústria e Energia, SA, located in Vila Velha de Ródão, said on Monday, “The company will appeal the decision in the Administrative Court of Castelo Branco."
The Environment Agency issued the order to close the olive drying and extraction plant for three years due to a series of pollution events between 2012 and 2017 during which it, “persists in its unlawful behaviour, discharging into the water without a licence."
In January 2018, Centroliva filed an injunction to avoid the compulsory closure of its olive pulp drying activities and continued to dump toxic waste into the river.
The company lodged its injunction following an inspection carried out by the General Inspectorate of Agriculture and Environment (IGAMAOT), at the end of November 2017 which resulted in the compulsory closure notice.
The company has been discharging its effluent into the Ribeira do Lucriz which flows into the river Tagus at Vila Velha de Ródão, joining the heady mix of pollutants from industries in the area.
The Portuguese Environment Agency announced that Centroliva has been charged with "the practice of seven very serious events, two of which were malicious, and the application of a fine."
The Agency says that the company "did not have licences (for the use of water resources and the dumping of waste water) and was not unaware of the need to obtain them."
In question, is the discharge of waste water, the introduction of ash in the water and the discharge of unpurified water onto land.
The Agency justified the closure of the plant, saying it wanted to minimise the effects of current pollution and to halt any further incidents. The company also is guilty of ignoring requests from the local council to sort itself out.
