The Chamber of Paços de Ferreira in Porto district deplored the “unusual way” in which police carried out searches in the municipality on Friday related to pollution of the Ferreira River, according to authorities.
“We cannot help but regret the unusual way of collecting documentation and the social anxiety it has caused,” the municipality said in a statement.
The municipality considered that it had acted completely transparently in this process, confirming the “commitment of municipal services to address the problem of pollution of the Ferreira River.”
The searches included the collection of documentation and were carried out by GNR troops through the Service for the Protection of Nature and the Environment (SEPNA) in conjunction with the General Inspectorate of Agriculture, Marine, Environment and Spatial Planning (IGAMAOT).
According to the municipality, the Chamber provided full cooperation in this operation.
“As such, the municipality will continue to actively participate so that the truth is fully established.”
There have been complaints for decades from parish councils, including the neighboring municipality of Paredes, as well as from residents of several places downstream of the Arreigada sewage treatment plant, next to the Ferreira River, with periodic sightings of dead fish. smells and foam on the garden bed and jars.
The statement sent to Lusa said that “most of the information and documentation on this matter is contained in the legal proceedings that the municipality initiated in the Administrative and Financial Court of Porto against the company that carried out the project, the contractor that carried out the work and the Austrian company that sold the technology.” .
On February 19, the municipality of Pacos de Ferreira announced in a press conference that it will build a new wastewater treatment plant (WTP) in Arreigada with an investment that could reach 22 million euros to finally solve the problems of the existing equipment.
That day also revealed that the Chamber had filed a lawsuit against the designer, contractor and manufacturer of the technology that formed the basis of the contract for the renovation of the current wastewater treatment plant “to determine liability for this interference.”
The renovation of the existing wastewater treatment plant, completed in 2020 with an investment of €5.1 million, did not meet the needs, forcing the municipality to consider building a wastewater treatment plant from scratch.
The existing treatment plant will continue to operate in addition to the new one, which is planned to be built on the adjacent territory.
On October 6, 2022, when it became clear that the expansion and reconstruction did not completely solve the problem of treating wastewater discharged into the river, a biological treatment system was installed at the station. This technical solution, the Chamber defended, “makes it possible to establish an installed capacity of 10 thousand cubic meters,” thereby putting an end to the observed difficulties.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.