A scientific committee will prepare a work plan with a calendar and budget on lindane in a few months
A scientific committee, made up of experts from different areas, will prepare a work plan with a calendar and budget to address the problem of decontamination by lindane generated by the company Inquinosa in the town of Sabiñánigo in Huesca and after the produced a spill into the Gállego river from the Bailín landfill, where the remains of this pesticide were deposited.
The Minister of Rural Development and Sustainability of the Government of Aragon, Joaquín Olona, has chaired the constitution meeting of this scientific committee to "address a problem that we have controlled, but not solved and that will require a great effort not only economic and financial but also scientific and technical innovation and that is why this committee of experts has been set up”, he explained.
Olona thanked the "great generosity they have assumed to advise the Government of Aragon independently because it is a great responsibility in the face of a complex problem."
In statements to the media, Olona has acknowledged that the work plan of the scientific committee "will be binding", to describe that "we will submit to their scientific and technical opinion in which they validate what has been done so far and we do not rule out having to adopt some correction”.
From the Government of Aragon they will provide them with information so that they can prepare a more intense work program with the definition of the methodology to follow and from the Ministry they have also transferred the "social concerns about the potability of water".
Olona recalled that the work plan entrusted to the scientific committee also responds to the mandate of the Cortes de Aragón, which has urged the regional government to draw up a work plan with the calendar and budget and "it is a great challenge and will be the main task of the committee".
Two more committees
He has graphically stated that "absolutely everything is in the hands of this committee and for its consideration so that they can confirm whether what has been done is correct and we do not put conditions on them, but instead assess without limitation and not convince ourselves that we have done everything well" . In this regard, he has abounded in that "they have been constituted to pay attention to them and they will be the ones that set the scientific and technical guidelines".
The next meeting of these experts will possibly take place in Sabiñánigo so that they know first-hand the problem, in addition an institutional committee will also be created between the Government of Aragon, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE), the local administrations and the Irrigation Community from Alto Aragón; and a third social committee will accommodate organizations that have been working for a long time and have helped to identify this problem.
"With the three work committees we intend to provide them with the necessary documentation with a commitment to transparency because it is about getting the information to society," Olona stressed.
Thousands of tons
The counselor has elaborated that "my concern is not in the budget, but in defining rigorously and with a solid scientific and technical basis what the work plan is" by arguing that "we do not know how much it is, but we know that it is of such magnitude that is unaffordable for the DGA and is a reason that leads us to have a solid plan to then go to the European institutions to ask for help, but with a work plan that allows us to convey that we know what we want to do and we are not going to waste resources."
Regarding the water supply to riverside towns of the Cinco Villas Orientales, he pointed out that actions have been carried out such as the installation of carbon filters and "we are looking for simple solutions such as alternative springs regardless of the contamination that will have to be applied in the event of an eventual point of contamination, but they are not definitive, but for emergencies and the municipalities know it”.
Olona has stressed that the dismantling of the Inquinosa facilities "is one of the most immediate actions and with the full agreement of all the agents, but the question is what we do with the product and how we treat it", observing that the problem reaches the floor of the facilities themselves "with a river terrace that we would have to take with us and we must determine the depth".
In addition, he pointed out that it is located in an area integrated into the core of Sabiñánigo and "will require very cautious measures to prevent the emissions that may be produced from affecting the population", since there are thousands of tons of contaminated land.
Olona has indicated that one of the options would be to take the waste to the safe cell of the Bailín landfill, but it will be submitted to the opinion of the scientific committee to see if they consider it correct.
MEMBERS
For the formation of the scientific advisory committee on lindane, a multidisciplinary team made up of prestigious specialists in the field of research and the university environment has been selected.
In this way, the committee is made up of seven researchers and professors from within and outside our community, such as the professor of Animal Health at the University of Zaragoza, Juan José Badiola; the CSIC Research professor at the Aula Dei Experimental Station, Enrique Playán; the professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza, José Antonio Mayoral; the professor of Hydrogeology at the University of La Coruña, Javier Samper; the professor of Soil Science at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Felipe Macías; the professor of Chemical Engineering at the Complutense University of Madrid, Aurora Santos; and the Scientific Director from the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, Nicolás Olea.