WRITTEN QUESTION E-1866/00

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 June 2000)

Subject: The Garraf (Barcelona) Tip

The Garraf Tip, located in the Gavà i Begues (Barcelona) municipality, opened in 1972, and is used for mass urban waste dumping. It currently holds over 20 million tonnes of rubbish.

This tip is built on porous limestone, and when it was built, no measures were taken to make it impermeable, with the result that it has been leaching into the underground water supply for 28 years and causing pollution as far as the sea and the bed of the Llobregat Delta, which has been declared an area of special natural interest. The tip lies within a natural park established by a decree of the Generalitat de Catalunya of 18 February 1987 on the Plan Especial de Protección del Medio Físico y del Paisaje del Espacio de Interés Natural del Garraf (special plan for the protection of the physical environment and natural beauty of the Garraf area of natural interest). Article 28 of the legislation in force until last year laid down that the dumping of organic material would cease on 31 December 1999.

On 6 April 2000, the biannual revision of the Metropolitan Municipal Waste Management Programme was adopted, providing for the use of the Garraf Tip until 31 December 2006.

Both the biannual revision and the amendment of the special plan for the protection of the Garraf area ignore Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the dumping of waste, which is to be transposed into national legislation by 31 July 2001 (Article 18). Under this directive, the Garraf Tip will not meet the conditions for remaining open, and should be closed (paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Annex I).

Furthermore, the Garraf Tip is an illegal installation, given that it is an industrial-type plant built on land classified as woodland by the General Metropolitan Plan currently in force. Moreover, it has no municipal operating licence from the Gavà Town Council.

The tip therefore infringes Article 1(3) and (4) of EC Directive 156/1991 on waste, of 18 March 1991(1). It also infringes Directive 97/11/EC.

What does the Commission intend to do to make sure that the Community directives in question are complied with?

(1) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2000)

The Commission had not been aware of the situation referred to by the Honourable Member.

It should be borne in mind that, at the moment, waste treatment is governed by Council Directive 75/442/EEC(1) of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC(2). Article 4 thereof stipulates that Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that waste is disposed of without endangering human health and without harming the environment, and in particular without risk to water, air, soil and plants and animals, without causing a nuisance through noise or odours and without adversely affecting the countryside or places of special interest.

Under Article 9 of Directive 75/442/EEC all installations and undertakings treating waste must obtain a permit; since we are here discussing a possible infringement of Council Directive 1999/31/EC(3) of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, it should be noted that, so far, that Directive has not laid down any mandatory rule for the Member States since, according to Article 18, the deadline for its transposition is 16 July 2001.

It should be noted that Article 3, paragraph 2 of Council Directive 97/11/EC(4) of 3 March 1997, amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment states that if a request for authorisation was submitted before 14 July 1999 the provisions of the version of Directive 85/337/EEC preceding its amendment shall apply.

In any case, in its capacity as guardian of the Treaties, the Commission shall take any action needed in order to ensure that Community law is complied with in this instance.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.

(2) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.

(3) OJ L 182, 16.7.1999.

(4) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.