The IGAMAOT conducted investigative actions at several companies within the Verdasca group, particularly in the Ourém region, to ascertain facts related to potential environmental crimes, as stated in a response to an inquiry by Lusa agency.
IGAMAOT reported that various expert analyses, including water and waste sampling, were performed to gather evidence and assess the current condition of environmental components in the concerned areas, whose quality might be influenced by these companies’ activities.
The Polícia Judiciária (PJ) announced on Wednesday a police operation in the Ourém region, executing 25 search warrants both residential and non-residential, targeting three industrial companies and Ourém City Council.
The operation investigates possible crimes, including violation of urban planning rules, public endangerment pollution, corruption, subsidy or grant fraud, and money laundering.
Dubbed “Terra Limpa,” the operation was conducted by the PJ’s Leiria Criminal Investigation Department, the National Anti-Corruption Unit, and IGAMAOT, within the scope of inquiries led by the Regional Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) of Évora and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Asked if any companies or industrial units had been ordered to cease operations due to alleged pollution crimes and the risk of their continuation, IGAMAOT clarified that the imposition of preventive measures in this investigation is the exclusive prerogative of the judicial authorities overseeing the inquiries, namely the DIAP Regional of Évora and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Regarding questions about how many oversight actions had been carried out in the past two years on companies in this group in the Ourém municipality, and their outcomes, the inspectorate stated that following an allegation related to construction and landfill work on National Ecological Reserve (REN) land in Fátima, involving companies from the Verdasca & Verdasca Group and the business entity itself, a situation analysis was conducted by IGAMAOT, with results sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In October 2024, environmental group Quercus accused Verdasca companies of constructing a landfill and pavilions in Fátima, Ourém municipality (Santarém district), in a REN-designated area.
“Quercus warns about the construction of a huge landfill and pavilions for concrete production adjacent to Estrada do Cabecinho in Fátima, in a Conservation Forest Zone as defined in Ourém’s Municipal Master Plan and part of REN, lacking any licensing and constituting an environmental offense,” the association declared.
Quercus also warned that “ongoing construction of the pavilions and landfill continues unchallenged,” and a “concrete mixer was recently observed dumping waste effluents with concrete on the landfill’s slope in REN’s maximum infiltration areas,” contributing to the “contamination of the Maciço Calcário Estremenho aquifer, the nation’s second-largest aquifer.”
The association demanded appropriate action from administrative, police, and judicial authorities. At that time, Ourém Mayor Luís Albuquerque stated that the municipality had “halted the work three times.”
Today, Quercus President Alexandra Azevedo said regarding the searches, “it is the justice system doing its job,” emphasizing that the environmental association seeks only the restoration of legality.
