SAVE THE BALCONY OF THE EBRO DELTA: No to the Camarles biogas plant!
Ence Energía y Celulosa, S.A. wants to build a biogas plant in Camarles, in a natural environment that is part of the Terres de l'Ebre Biosphere Reserve. This project causes great concern because of the negative impact it will generate on our landscape, our health, our well-being and our economy.
FOR THE TRUE RICHES OF OUR TOWN
Camarles, the 'Balcó del Delta', is a welcoming town that has a beautiful green space to the northwest: the rural landscape of Pla del Bif. It is precisely here - on rustic land, home to native and protected species, next to a Natura 2000 Area, and with dozens of homes less than 500 m away - where they want to build this enormous facility reminiscent of a chemical industrial installation.
The proposed plant would have an annual capacity to process 100,000 tons of organic matter, a figure that implies a minimum of 5,000 trucks a year. Right now we are told that it would only process olive pomace from nearby mills, and never pig slurry, dead animals, or sludge from sewage treatment plants. This has no credibility: either because of the characteristics of olive pomace that make it unprofitable to generate biogas, because of the insufficient annual production of olive pomace in the province, or because of the company's past ecological crimes in the Ria de Pontevedra.
WE WILL DEFEND OUR LAND
Biogas plants, promoted from Europe as renewable energy, may have significant negative impacts on the local environment. These include the emission of harmful pollutants such as methane, hydrogen sulphide, bacteria and micro-particles, as well as potential spills that could contaminate our soils and groundwater. Studies show that living near these plants is linked to various health effects, especially respiratory problems. Furthermore, the construction and continued operation of such a plant, as well as the heavy traffic on our rural roads, would have an enormous impact on the quality of life of the hundreds of people who live and work in homes and estates within a radius of 3 km.
THE PEOPLE DON'T WANT IT!
The large footprint of this industry in our municipality would affect generations of people, and would invite even more industries of its ilk - companies that process waste from distant places while endangering our health, bringing bad smells and devaluing the town.
We are not against biogas as a form of energy production, we are against the proposed location in Camarles. It would mean a huge loss to our community and those around it. We are mobilizing against it, as many other towns in Spain do, to stop the project before it is processed.
We ask the Camarles City Council to reject this proposal that would mortgage our municipality for the interests of a multimillion-euro company. Furthermore, we ask that they modify the POUM to cancel the favourable urban compatibility report that they have already given Ence.
We ask Ignacio de Colmenares, the director of Ence and, according to his Wikipedia page, a member of the environmental group SEOBirdLife, to think about the protected birds of prey endangered by his installation. They still have time to withdraw, and the people will NOT make it easy for them.
Defenders of the land, from Camarles, Lligallos or beyond: Please sign this petition to protect our territory and preserve our precious land for future generations.
WE WILL NOT LET THEM TURN US INTO LANDFILL