Although in the European Union it has been banned since 2008, lindane is still known in the Basque Country as such. It has been used as an insecticide, but it is toxic and dangerous to humans and persists for a long time in the environment. The Lindano report: the current situation of a toxic heritage, published by Ekologistak Martxan, includes an investigation carried out by the group whose objective is to analyze whether in 2017 and 2018 there have been lindane in the soil and in the rivers. The study was based on 1,667 analyses carried out by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of the Government of Spain and the Basque Water Agency.

The sources consulted state that the situation has "worsened" since 2017, when its evolution is unknown. In fact, the data shows the severity of the situation: 1.4% of the soils and rivers of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa had more than the authorized quantity of lindane in 2017, and a year later they were 11.9%.

The amount of toxic substance is striking in the basins of the rivers Ibaizabal and Nervión.En the river Nervión has exceeded the legal limits of this pollutant both in average annual terms (20 nanograms per litre) and in terms of maximum values for specific moments (40 nanograms), according to the analyses carried out by the Ura Agency. The samples of contaminated water correspond to the lower part of the river, in the surroundings of the former industrial settlements of the Nexana and Chemical pesticide factories, although in 1982 and 1987 they stopped working.

According to the report, the waste was distributed everywhere, from the Nexana and Chemical companies of Erandio and Barakaldo, and is directly related to uncontrolled dumping of lindane, as they "transported the waste from one to the other without control" and were emitted indiscriminately.

Thanks to the studies of environmental groups, numerous illegal landfills have been found in recent years, including Etxe-Uli in Santurtzi.