The mining area of Aznalcóllar is still being “battered” in the 11th anniversary of the catastrophe. Instead of revitalising the polluted ground and use an inerting system to give back the mining area part of its original appearance, the Andalusian Regional Government maintains its self-interested policy of inactivity before the devastating panorama offered by the mining facilities, eleven years after the environmental disaster.

Ecologistas en Acción, together with the rest of important environmental organizations of the country, carried out last year a claiming campaign on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the toxic spill that devastated the Guadiamar river and at the same time affected the Doñana National Park, the 25th April 1998. With this campaign, we wanted to demand the administration to adopt a series of measures, to reinforce and complete the great effort that started ten years ago, to restore the ecosystem health. Last year we made four demands from the ecological sensitivity of the deficiencies and threats detected ten years after the tragedy: firstly, the fact that they didn't remodel the mining facilities, secondly, the terrible management of the design of the Corredor Verde de Guadiamar, thirdly, the worst political initiatives for the region, the authorization of the development of the industrial activity, the spilling of toxic waste into the Guadalquivir river from a new mine nearby Aznalcóllar, called Cobre las Cruces, which has its own terrible record as the largest open-cast mine in Europe. Finally, the irrigation projects that they want to develop in some areas of the region and that would turn the Guadiamar river into a drain.

A year has passed from this campaign, and today, we must inform the public opinion about the answer that the responsible administrations, have offered to the citizens:

1º- They have not considered any alternative to revitalize the grounds nor the waste material piled up in the huge rubbish dumps. The sadly famous mud pond, which due to a burst caused the spilling of toxic waste, still keeps million cubic meters of highly pollutant materials. These pollutant materials are not treated, but they produce waters with high heavy metal loads that are sent to the old mine and after, to an industrial wastewater treatment plant, to later on be spilled to the Agrio river. This pumping and purification process, doesn't have expiry date, and will be used for many decades. The people in charge of the Secretariat-General of Telecommunications and the Information Society of Andalusia consider that this indefinite situation is logic. While, the mine often is full by the enormous amounts of acid water that nearly pass the level considered safe (0 according to the sea-level) and from which, the Niebla-Posadas aquifer could be polluted.

The problems that generate the huge rubbish dumps (true artificial mountains made from minerals), apparently had the minimum importance for the responsables who aren't interested in the consequences. As a result, leachate waste or run-off waters go through the rivers and streams near the area.

After the last rainfall on March, the volunteers of the Andalusian Program “Andarríos”, together with diverse university departments, that work in the area taking samples and analyzing the environmental quality, were astonished at the arrival from the rubbish dumps, of water with an orange colour completely mixed with the water of the pristine and transparent stream Los Frailes, tributary of the Guadiamar, hampering the flow of protected and endangered species of mammals, fish, amphibians and macroinvertebrates or of the native flora. This is not the result of ignorance, this situation was denounced administratively and publicly by Ecologistas en Acción and the rest of environmental NGOs, that even gave samples and analysis of the acid water with metal content, a thousand times superior to the legally established ones. We wondered ourselves what would have happen if in this case, an individual was the person responsible for such an environmental crime. We also asked ourselves why they didn't offered works of restoration and revegetation of grounds to the miners who lost their jobs after the disaster.

2º- A lot of effort and money where employed on the construction of the Corredor Verde del Guadiamar, since they had to clean kilometres of mud on both banks of the river for its environmental restoration. It also provoked, in some cases, the expropriation of land to the proprietors, land that no longer could be cultivated nor be used as pasture. Hunting and fishing were banned. The environmental organizations applauded the idea of creating an ecological corridor that connected the populations of plants and animals from the south (Doñana), with the north of the province of Seville (Sierra Norte); this seemed to be a ray of light after such a tragedy and administrative laziness. Last year, we requested for the monitoring of the Corredor Verde, when we detected its deterioration, due to vandalism on the infrastructures of public property, circulation of motor vehicles, poaching, etc…and we also pleaded for the extension of the corridor towards the north, in order to carry out the original idea, leaving the Guadiamar river in the middle, between the north and the south of the corridor. Today, the situation is no longer the same, to tell the truth, now everything is more complicated:

Not only we can see there is no assistance for species that need an adequate environment, for their displacements through new territories (as it could happen to the Iberian lynx if the management of the Corredor Verde turns out to be satisfactory), but we can also see, the mining industry's interest to find new areas for future projects, with the threat of suffering again tremendous environmental impacts, characteristic of this industry. The mining industry is already carrying out the project called Salomé, which consists on making geological studies in Sites of Community Importance (SCI), such as the Guadiamar river, and in a part of its basin which didn't got polluted eleven years ago. The promoter of the study, the company Cobre Las Cruces pursues the exploitation of new deposits, and their greed seems to have no limits. We will be on the alert for the answer that the Andalusian Regional Government will give us in relation to the request for the investigation of this new foolish act that would affect directly the future of the Corredor Verde, a perfect place to connect with the environment.

It has already been authorised fishing, as well as apiculture and different types of animal husbandry. Recent studies show us high accumulation of polluting agents in the corridor's vegetation. We think it is a complete irresponsibility on the part of the environmental authorities, to forget about people and animal's health.

3º- We could be talking for a long time about what happened with the mining project that Cobre Las Cruces is carrying out in the neighbouring towns of Gerena, Salteras and Olivares, and about the tremendous impact that the toxic spilling to the Guadalquivir river will provoke in its ecosystem, or even about the impact that it has caused in those old and kind arable lands. But what we really want to underline is that we really think it is immoral to subordinate any value, to the economic interest of a company. The Hydrographic Confederation of the Guadalquivir paralysed the mining project for months, because they had polluted the Niebla-Posadas aquifer, (Seville's main supplier of water during drought periods), they were surprised with their hands in the cookie jam when removing much more water of the one they were authorised to, and they were changing the project design for several times because they failed to fulfil the administration conditions (they even had to redesign the original one completely). These reasons haven't been sufficient for the administration to take serious and rigorous decisions in the control and authorization processes. The people that really have in their power, the possibility of imposing our exigency to force this company to maintain a “zero spill”, don't listen what we say. We wonder ourselves how will the Andalusian politicians face another future black day. We dare to say that there will be no public responsibilities, as well as eleven years before, in Aznalcóllar.

4º- Finally, we want to insist on the necessity of conserving the Guadiamar river, because is one of the few rivers barely regulated. Some of the threats concerning to this river are the use of its water to irrigate the areas of the north of Doñana, in the Cattle ranches, as well as the new irrigable systems that some landowners wish to have in the traditional dry lands of Aznalcóllar. We demand the authorities to refuse the irrigation concessions in Doñana and its overexploited aquifer, that for years have been illegally exploited with much more water than the one authorized. The Regional Government of Andalusia pretends to reward the unscrupulous farmers with water of the Agrio river, an important tributary of the Guadiamar in exchange for recovering the battered aquifer. The ecological Corridor and the Guadiamar river would become a mere irrigation channel in the hands of people who traditionally haven't shown ecological sensitivity. We ask ourselves if the members of the Andalusian Water Agency will show a different view, far from an economic point of view, which has characterized the water policies in less democratic days. The rivers can't coerce the administrations to give back the compensation water protected by European law , for this reason, the political mediocrity always ends up taking what just belongs to the rivers. In case you haven't noticed, this situation simply means that Institutions carry out robberies every day. A good example is the one happened few years ago, in which the company Bolidén-Apirsa run away with the subsidies that were even paid after the catastrophe, leaving a frightful plunder carried out against the natural heritage of the Guadiamar river.

Programa de Linea 900 sobre el desastre de Aznalcóllar:


Reportaje de Canal Sur dos años antes del desastre, avisando claramente del posible peligro:


Reportaje de Canal Sur sobre distintas minas andaluzas: