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The population protests against the pollution of the Ferreira river and demands definitive measures

The population protests against the pollution of the Ferreira river and demands definitive measures

Around a hundred people took part in a slow protest march this Saturday from Lordelo, Paredes, to the Arreigada wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Paços de Ferreira, demanding the definitive resolution of an environmental problem affecting the Ferreira River, into which the WWTP discharges its effluent and where pollution and bad smells have been visible for over two decades.

The Paços de Ferreira town council acknowledges the problems with the equipment and says it understands “the indignation of the population”. However, it insists that it has not given up and, in addition to working “for a definitive situation”, it has also taken legal action against those responsible for building the WWTP in order to determine who is responsible for its malfunctioning.

The demonstration began at Levada do Souto, in Lordelo, in the municipality of Paredes, and ended at the Arreigada wastewater treatment plant, in Paços de Ferreira. Organized by the #MovRioDouro and Killed the Ferreira River movements – who have also launched an online manifesto, calling for “Justice for the Ferreira River” – the slow march aimed to alert the relevant entities and demand resolution of an environmental problem that has been dragging on for over twenty years.

“We want justice for the Ferreira River, because we’ve been suffering for years from this unacceptable situation,” Nadine Gonçalves, from the association “Ils ont tué le fleuve Ferreira” (“They killed the Ferreira River”), told JN, accusing the state of “not solving” the problem.

According to one of the organizers of the slow march, “at the moment, the discharges into the treatment plant are continuous, we have wastewater that is sent daily into the river without treatment. So there’s no life in this river”, she declared, calling for responsibility.

With the modernization of the wastewater treatment plant, treatment capacity has been halved, and it currently only processes between 10 and 15% of waste. “Eighty-five percent goes into the river, untreated,” he lamented.

Criticizing the inaction of the local authorities of Paredes and Paços de Ferreira and the Portuguese Environment Agency, Mr. Gonçalves hopes that with the slow march, they can “exert pressure from all sides” and break the “absurd silence” surrounding this issue.

“This is a public health case, so we have to control this situation, the entities have to function and be accountable,” he concluded.

The mayor’s office has taken legal action against those responsible for the WWTP works.

Paulo Ferreira, deputy mayor of Paços de Ferreira, acknowledged the problems at the Arreigada wastewater treatment plant and said he understood “the indignation of the population”. “We are also deeply outraged by the fact that it is not working as intended”, he said.

As a result, the local authority has taken legal action, currently pending before the Porto Administrative and Fiscal Court, against the company that designed the project, the company that carried out the work and the company that supplied the equipment, “in order to determine responsibility for its malfunctioning”.

“But from the very first hour, we didn’t give up and we worked, did our job, to find those responsible and find a solution”, assured Paulo Ferreira, explaining that the Town Hall is currently completing work on the installation of a temporary treatment unit, which represents an investment of around 537,000 euros and “which will be operational in the next few weeks, allowing effluent to be treated until there is a definitive situation”, explained Paulo Ferreira.

To achieve this definitive situation, the municipality of Paços de Ferreira is preparing the public tender, due to be launched at the end of July, for the design, expansion and renovation of the WWTP, a project costing around 15 million euros, for which the financing guarantee, as part of PT2030, has already been granted by the government and the Portuguese Environment Agency.

The Arreigada wastewater treatment plant underwent expansion and requalification work – representing an investment of 5.1 million euros – but this further aggravated the problem of pollution and unpleasant odours in the Ferreira River, where the plant’s effluent is drained.

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