Seville, (EFE) Thursday that “parts” of some farms that were not affected by the sludge were acquired.
The second day of the trial has had the testimony of the mining engineers Francisca de la Hoz and Juan Carlos Costa. And from the former member of Egmasa Antonio Mora, doctor in Chemical Sciences. All of them proposed by the Board, which have offered details of the restoration work carried out after the spill.
Francisca de la Hoz, who was part of the Guadiamar Technical Office between June 1998 and the summer of 1999, denied that the Green Corridor project existed before the spill occurred. Despite the insistence on the part of Boliden’s defense to all the witnesses to know if it is an already predetermined project.
Panic among the population
The engineer, who developed some of the projects that the Board had to implement for the restoration of the affected area, told how she found a situation of “panic” among the population. Since the Office received many calls from people interested in knowing if the contamination reached the beach. Or if you could consume certain products such as fish or fruit from the affected or neighboring areas.
De la Hoz, who reported to Javier Serrano, who coordinated the Restoration Office, agreed with his superior that the Board bought some parts of their farms that were not affected from the owners of the land affected by the toxic spill. . Because their owners were no longer interested in continuing with crops in the area or simply because they were retiring.
This argument coincides with the one raised during the first session of the trial by Serrano. Who explained that 90 percent of the lands acquired by the Board were affected by the spill. But the remaining 10 percent “had lost their agricultural vocation,” so their owners were not interested in continuing to farm there.
The doctor in Chemicals Antonio Mora has said that he was in charge of the samples and the analyzes of the soils. And he has pointed out that 99 percent of the work was done in the Junta’s laboratories. And that they did not charge for the material that was used but for the work.
Some 4,400 hectares affected
Asked why soils that had not been affected by the spill were also periodically analyzed, the Egmasa technician stated that it was normal for it to be done this way. To have “a reference” regarding contaminated soils, a situation that lasted for several years.
Juan Carlos Costa has defended the reforestation work carried out after the mine catastrophe. Which consisted basically of a repopulation of trees that was in charge of the “absorption” of arsenic.
The Board claims the companies that are part of Boliden (Boliden Apirsa, Boliden AB and Boliden BV) 89,867,545 euros. With the argument that with the fracture of the raft of the mining complex, five million cubic meters of mud were spilled. When they reached the Doñana area, there were 37 tons of dead fish and 4,400 hectares were affected, without the company contributing funds to restore the area.
The administration recalls that its recovery actions included the removal of sludge, forced expropriation, control and waterproofing of the Doñana Marsh, technical assistance, decontamination study, environmental restoration actions and actions on the banks of the Guadiamar river and control of groundwater. EFE