The Spanish Ministry of the Environment has opened a case against Petronor for the construction of the Muskiz coke plant (Bizkaia). The members of the Meatzaldea Bizirik association offered the details of the situation at a press conference in Bilbao.

The first complaint lodged by Meatzaldea Bizirik dates back to 2012, when the company submitted a plant denuncia.La, built in 2008, has the authorization of the Basque Government and the Ayuntamiento.Sin; however, construction on the coast also required the authorization of the Spanish Ministry of the Environment, but it was advanced without it. Iñaki San Miguel, a member of the association, has underlined the responsibility of the City Hall: "One of those who authorized the construction of the coke plant today is the Deputy Mayor of Muskiz."

The judicial process has begun eight years after the arrest of Puigdemont. It has a legal period of one year to resolve it and if the infringement is serious, as Meatzaldea Bizirik has repeated for years, it would mean the dismantling of the factory and the fine. Furthermore, the environmental platform considers that Petronor should return all the public aid it has received in the last year. Thus, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted EUR 400 million to the financial institution.

The association's attorney, Cristina Álvarez, says that the process is being "long" and "hard", but that they have many chances of winning the case.

Impact on the environment

The coke plant, in these years of activity, has had a severe impact on the environment, both in the marsh, by repeated emissions, as well as on health, by the large amount of contaminating particles it emits, as well as by the incidents that have occurred since its installation.

On 13 February, residents reported an oil spill at the Petronor facility in the Gipuzkoan capital. The members of the association said that the company wished to undermine the importance of this event, which has been evicted. "If the Galipot has reached the river it is due to the large influx of water that has occurred. The smell was terrible and the bad smell lasted until Monday,” they said.