WRITTEN QUESTION No. 631/99 by María SORNOSA MARTÍNEZ Dos Aguas solid waste tip (Valencia, Spain)
Date: 1999-03-12
Institutions: European Parliament, SORNOSA MARTINEZ
Subjects: Community of Valencia, drinking water, environmental impact, environmental protection, food consumption, public health, storage of waste, water pollution













EUR-Lex - 91999E0631 - EN






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91999E0631

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 631/99 by María SORNOSA MARTÍNEZ Dos Aguas solid waste tip (Valencia, Spain)  


Official Journal C 348 , 03/12/1999 P. 0110 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0631/99by María Sornosa Martínez (PSE) to the Commission(12 March 1999)Subject: Dos Aguas solid waste tip (Valencia, Spain)Work to set up a municipal solid waste tip in Dos Aguas (Valencia) is continuing in spite of repeated protests from local residents. The tip could pose a serious danger of contamination, since it is to be sited close to a well that supplies drinking-water to a number of towns and villages on the Valencian coast.Parliament recently endorsed the proposal for a Council Directive laying down a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. The tip project may be in breach of several environmental Directives including, for example, Directive91/156/EEC (on waste)(1), Directive 85/337/EEC (on environmental impact assessment)(2), and Directive 80/778/EEC (on the quality of water for human consumption)(3). When she addressed the House in the February debate on the landfill of waste, the Member of the Commission responsible for the environment agreed that minimum separation distances needed to be established between tips and population centres. In its answer to Written Question E-1261/98 the Commission stated that it would ask the Spanish authorities for information about the Dos Aguas tip(4).In the light of the foregoing, can the Commission say whether the Spanish authorities have supplied the details required in order to ascertain whether any of the above Directives are being infringed on account of the tip?What steps will it take to preserve the surrounding area and avert all danger to public health?Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission(29 April 1999)After receiving the Honourable Member's written question E-1261/98(5) the Commission decided to launch a fact-finding procedure on its own initiative, which was recorded under reference number B-98/2202. While examining this matter the Commission asked for comments from the Spanish authorities on the situation described in the written question referred to above.In reply to that request for information the Spanish authorities stated that the project in question had been subjected to the environmental impact assessment procedure required by Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment. Studies certifying the hydrogeological suitability of the area chosen to house the tip were provided as part of that procedure. The project received a positive declaration of environmental impact issued by the environmental authority empowered to do so.In view of the above, and on the basis of the information available on the situation described by the Honourable Member, the Commission has not identified any infringement of Community environmental law in this instance.(1) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991, p. 32.(2) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.(3) OJ L 229, 30.8.1980, p. 11.(4) OJ C 402, 22.12.1998, p. 103.(5) OJ C 402, 6.1.1999.