46,000 tonnes of French waste buried on farmland in Spain: four arrested
46,000 tonnes of French waste have been found buried in fields in Barcelona province. Four arrests and many questions about how a haul of 2,300 truckloads went unnoticed.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
46,000 tonnes of French waste buried on farmland in Spain: four arrested
Spain's Seprona (the Guardia Civil's environmental crime unit) has arrested four people accused of burying 46,000 tonnes of waste from France on farmland in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, near Barcelona. The operation, slow to arrive despite the massive volume of dumping, reopens the debate about the authorities' ability to monitor large-scale environmental crime.
According to figures provided by sources close to the case, at an average of 20 tonnes per truck, the operation would have required around 2,300 trips. A figure that hardly goes unnoticed, especially when compared with the scant attention, according to some analyses, paid to minor offences such as picking wild plants.
The scheme fits a familiar pattern: waste from countries with higher treatment costs is illegally diverted to territories with laxer controls. The business is highly profitable and the penalties, in practice, laughable. The question that remains is how 2,300 trucks managed to cross borders and unload their cargo without inspection systems raising the alarm until the total reached 46,000 tonnes.
Spain's Seprona (the Guardia Civil's environmental crime unit) has arrested four people accused of burying 46,000 tonnes of waste from France on farmland in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, near Barcelona. The operation, slow to arrive despite the massive volume of dumping, reopens the debate about the authorities' ability to monitor large-scale environmental crime.
According to figures provided by sources close to the case, at an average of 20 tonnes per truck, the operation would have required around 2,300 trips. A figure that hardly goes unnoticed, especially when compared with the scant attention, according to some analyses, paid to minor offences such as picking wild plants.
The scheme fits a familiar pattern: waste from countries with higher treatment costs is illegally diverted to territories with laxer controls. The business is highly profitable and the penalties, in practice, laughable. The question that remains is how 2,300 trucks managed to cross borders and unload their cargo without inspection systems raising the alarm until the total reached 46,000 tonnes.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (13 replies).
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