The Minister of the Environment, Universities, Research and Mar Menor, Juan María Vázquez, stated yesterday that the regional Government has the “determination to resolve” as soon as possible, in accordance with current legislation, the problem of contaminated soils in the old belt. industrial complex in Cartagena, including those occupied by Ercros in El Hondón, until 2001, and Española del Zinc (Zinsa) in Torreciega, until 2009. Although he avoided giving dates for the possible start of soil restoration work, Vázquez He reiterated that the Autonomous Community will not hesitate to assume the work and pass the bill to the producer of the waste, Ercros, in the first case; and the current owners of the land (Zinsa disappeared), Cartagena Parque and Maquinasa, in the second, if these companies do not comply with their obligation to leave the land ready for new industrial uses.
The counselor stressed that the plots, affected by heavy metals and radioactive materials, occupy “many hectares”, specifically 160. And he reaffirmed the “will” to advance the files and carry out the works to return the “full use” of the land to the neighbors. This is a “priority line” to address “a historical problem.”
When asked by journalists, after a meeting in Murcia with the secretary general of the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), Pablo Martín, the counselor showed his confidence that the Environment will not be forced to carry out subsidiary executions. In any case, he was “convinced” that there will be solutions. This happens in El Hondón because Ercros presents its decontamination project before June, appropriate to the demands of the Environment, CSN, the Segura Hydrographic Confederation and other entities. The meeting was also attended by the general director of the Environment, Juan Antonio Mata, and the general secretary of the Ministry, Enrique Ujaldón.
The minority owner of land in the area occupied by Zinsa must provide its report on radioactivity this month
Regarding Torreciega, Cartagena Parque, a company owned by promoter Tomás Olivo, has already delivered a study that rules out radioactivity problems. And Maquinasa, minority owner of the land, must deliver a similar report, at the latest, this month. As in El Hondón, where Ercros has already forced the removal of radioactive waste and has demanded measures to protect the environment and public health, it is possible that the CSN will have to review the file. Environmental sources indicated that in El Hondón it has not yet been calculated how much the subsidiary execution would cost, which Administration sources estimated at at least 20 million euros.
Municipal lands
They indicated that if the City Council, owner of the majority of the land, or a future owner wants to develop housing, after urban reclassification, they will have to carry out a complementary restoration. Ercros estimated the cost at 4 million, although with a less demanding type of sealing than the one demanded now. Regarding Torreciega, they indicated that the Ministry sent Maquinasa a warning to start subsidiary execution for the amount of 36,000 euros. The cost of soil decontamination has not yet been calculated.
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The recovery of the old Peñarroya by the Port, still undated
The decontamination of the former Peñarroya lands in Santa Lucía also continues without a date, after more than three decades. “We are holding meetings with the Port Authority of Cartagena, (partial) owner of the land, to finish polishing details of the decontamination project,” sources from the Ministry told LA VERDAD. Also pending is the restoration of an adjoining plot, affected by slag from the lead smelter and from which waste is carried into the waters of the Port through a boulevard.
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Control of X-ray equipment and transport of radiopharmaceuticals
The regional government and the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) agreed yesterday to “strengthen the lines of work to enhance coordination in strategic actions and advance the development of actions linked to nuclear safety and the radiological protection of people and the environment.” ». This was highlighted by the counselor, Juan María Vázquez. And CSN sources reported that in 2023, through a management task agreed with the Community, 23 inspections were carried out in radioactive facilities and 20 in other medical radiodiagnosis X-ray facilities. For this year, the Council plans to carry out 27 and 20 reviews, respectively.
According to the information analyzed in the joint commission between the Community and the CSN, held after the meeting between Vázquez and Martín, last year controls were carried out in the field of transport of radioactive material in the Region. There was an inspection on the reception of radiopharmaceutical transports in facilities, another with radiopharmacy management and one on the transport of high activity sources with transport management in a radiopharmaceutical production facility.
Councilor Vázquez recalled that the objective of the Agreement on the Entrustment of Functions of the CSN to the Community “entails improving the provision of services to citizens.” He also announced that the regional Administration and the Nuclear Safety Council will collaborate on a “talent recruitment” project, of which no details have been revealed at the moment.
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