WRITTEN QUESTION P-2260/02

by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission

(17 July 2002)

Subject: Increase in the environmental damage caused by the Fervasa solid urban waste treatment plant in Aldaia and Quart de Poblet

In my question E-2084/01(1), I informed the Commission of the situation concerning the solid urban waste treatment plant run by the company Fervasa on the outskirts of the municipalities of Aldaia and Quart de Poblet. Besides being obsolete and working at overcapacity, the Fervasa plant fails to comply with legal provisions (on planning and licences) and has a range of serious impacts on the environment, which were described in detail both in my question E-2084/01 and in the technical report drawn up by the Aldaia municipal council and then forwarded to the Commission. Of these environmental impacts, the following require an urgent solution: noxious smells, leaching, airborne waste, excessive lorry traffic and the devaluation of land.

The situation is particularly serious if one considers the impact that the plant might have on the protected area of La Albufera and its flora and fauna. The Fervasa plant is located on the terraces of the Poyo Ravine, where a high proportion of the leachates collect. Since the ravine connects with La Albufera, these leachates could be causing a slow but steady contamination of the subsoil there. After 30 years of activity at the plant, the repercussions of this are impossible to assess.

In its answer to my original question, the Commission undertook to launch an investigation with the Spanish authorities to ascertain whether, in the case of the Fervasa plant, there had been a failure to comply with Community law.

Since that answer dates from September 2001:

- could the Commission describe the action it is now taking to remedy the serious deterioration of the environment caused by the Fervasa plant?

- have the Spanish authorities submitted any information on this matter to the Commission?

(1) OJ C 40 E, 14.2.2002, p. 182.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(6 September 2002)

Following written question E-2084/01 by the Honourable Member(1), reporting the situation at a waste treatment plant inside the La Albufera special protection area (SPA) for birds in Valencia, the Commission opened own-initiative case 2001/2166 and approached the Spanish authorities for their comments on the reported situation and for the information it needed on the plant.

In their reply, the Spanish authorities described the plant as a waste recovery facility designed to handle urban waste from the city of Valencia and authorised since 1970; it had no direct impact on the Albufera nature park, was located in an industrial area near the trunk road to Madrid and Manises airport and was much further away from the protected area of La Albufera than many other industries in the metropolitan area.

The authorities also indicated that the plant had a system for collecting leachates, which were subsequently treated at the waste water treatment plant at Pinedo, Valencia.

The Spanish authorities stated that the Valencia metropolitan area local waste plan, awaiting final authorisation, included the replacement of the facility by a new plant, which would be subjected to an impact assessment study and would use the best available technology to deal with leachates and eliminate smells.

On the basis of the information available, therefore, the Commission is unable to pursue its investigation of this case as there is no evidence of an infringement.

However, the Commission does not rule out the possibility of examining the problem raised by the Honourable Member should she be able to provide it with information proving that Community law has been violated.

(1) OJ C 40 E, 14.2.2002.