Ferreira do Alentejo: APA claims not to have competence in the bagasse factory

A Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) said today it has no competence in the licensing, monitoring and supervision of the olive bagasse plant located in Fortes, Ferreira do Alentejo, and sent explanations to the CCDR Alentejo.

Rogério Silva, vice president of APA, who spoke at a parliamentary hearing on the Environment Committee about the alleged environmental crimes and impacts on public health associated with that plant in the municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo, district of Beja, justified that “no permit that the facility today has is issued by APA” and that, therefore, “the matters related to this licensing, monitoring and supervision, except those related to water resources, are not your responsibility”.

In response to questions raised by the Members present at the PS, PSD and Aquida, the responsible ensured that the monitoring that the APA makes of the Forts factory is limited to the “prevention, control and enforcement of sanctions for illicit activities in the field of water resources” as the National Water Authority.

In this case, Rogério Silva explained, since 2023, that the company does not have a waste water discharge permit, “since it began to store them in evaporation ponds, and to send some of them to a biomethane unit” and, therefore, “in good accuracy, APA, at this time, does not license in any of its aspects regarding this installation”.

As regards air quality monitoring, the Vice-President said that the APA “has a set of stations spread throughout the country”, and this responsibility is attributed locally to regional coordination and development committees (CCDR).

In this way, Rogério Silva explained the environmental impact assessment, the emission of particulates into the air and the installation of control stations to the CCDR. Alentejo, competent authority.

In response to a congressman from Aquida, a party that requested parliamentary hearing, the vice president of APA justified the transhipment of one of the company's wastewater retention ponds, in February this year, with the “storm train” that increased the level of precipitation in the country.

“The company reported the occurrence to APA on the same day and APA, through ARH Alentejo [Administration of the Alentejo Hydrographic Region], urged the company to delimit the affected area, to clean it and to transvause between lagoons to prevent the repetition of a similar event, balancing the amounts existing in each of the other lagoons,” Rogério Silva said.

Still, it was found that the effluent “did not reach the nearest water line”, the company having removed the “contaminated soils”, forwarding them “to licensed landfill”.

“ In March, the AHR Alentejo returned to the site and collected four samples in the water line, one upstream and three downstream, [checking that] the results met, in general, the legal references and did not reveal significant organic pollution ", said.

“ We understand that this situation was, effectively, exceptional, in a context also exceptional ", alluded.

At the same time, in May, the Inspection-General for Agriculture, the Sea, the Environment and the Land Planning (IGAMAOT) inspected the plant and “checked that the canvas of a bagasse storage pond was degraded” and with “infiltration of rough water into the ground and risk to groundwater”.

“IGAMAOT raised a news report by counter-ordering, finding the process in progress its normal terms. The IGAMAOT warrant, notified on June 5, ordered the full repair of the screen of this pond in 90 working days, [having] the company fulfilled the request ", said.

During the hearing, the parties present recalled that the situation in Forts “has been going on for more than a decade” and has been marked by “successful complaints from the population, farmers and livestock farmers and local associations” who report “suggested episodes of air pollution, persistent odors, contamination of water resources and damage to public health and agriculture.”.