Porto City Council assured on Tuesday that it was “trying to minimize” the impact of the discharge of pollutants into the Granja River that affected the Douro River and was caused by the fire at the Auto Sueco plant on Monday.
In a statement, the municipal company Águas e Energia do Porto explained that it was alerted to the discharge of polluting materials into the rainwater network as a result of the Auto Sueco fire and immediately mobilized resources to the site.
“They are trying to minimize the effects of the spill at the mouth of the Granja River and therefore on the Douro River. Barriers have been installed on the riverbed to contain the spills, and at the same time the pollutants are being vacuumed up in the suspension,” he guarantees.
The operation is being carried out by the company Águas e Energia do Porto in collaboration with the Maritime Authority.
The municipality, led by independent Rui Moreira, adds that organisations will remain on site with the necessary means to contain the spill while the discharge takes place.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday as part of the signing of a protocol with the Portuguese Environmental Protection Agency (APA), the vice-president of the Chamber of Porto and president of Águas e Energia do Porto, Filipe Araújo, said that “the amount of water used to extinguish the fire could cause some problems that could reach some rivers.”
“We knew it was coming. In Ribeira da Granja we were watching and soon teams were starting to contain these oils coming out of the river,” using two barriers to contain the oils, as well as suction vehicles (trucks) to remove them, he said.
According to Filipe Araujo, a survey was also carried out to assess “if there were other impacts on the coast”, but he did not guarantee that nothing “very serious” would happen.
Teams from various organisations are on site, such as Águas e Energia do Porto, the Douro and Leixões Port Masters and the Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo Port Authority (APDL).
On Monday, a fire that broke out at the Auto Sueco complex in the industrial area of Porto brought more than 100 employees to the scene, supported by 45 vehicles from three corporations in the municipalities of Porto, Matosinhos, Maia, Pedrusos and Areosa – Rio Tinto.
The fire alert was issued at 1:38pm and was reported to be “completely out” by 6:30pm.
This Tuesday at 9:30 am, nine firefighters from Sapadores Firefighters of Porto remained on site, carrying out consolidation and recovery work, supported by three vehicles.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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