The Basque Government intended to build two department stores in the vicinity of the landfill, one at the bottom, on the land occupied by a landfill and the other inside the landfill, at the top, in an area where the land is more stable. This reservoir located on the bottom was built and in recent weeks has been used to store the rubble and land that fell into the landfill. This warehouse is about to be filled, but the second one has not yet begun to be built.

The Basque Government itself has reported today that the company Verter Recycling filed an appeal against the plan of the Basque Government and that it has agreed to this appeal. Landfill owners have proposed to continue this deposit at the bottom and not to build the deposit at the top of the landfill. Mr Verter has made it clear that other proposals he has put forward have been rejected.

According to the project that has been developed, continuity will be given to this lower warehouse that is built. The new garbage cell will be located on two slopes on the slopes of Mount Motia. The area has already been the subject of geotechnical and hydrological studies, so the site has been approved. This new deposit could accommodate up to 804,000 gross cubic metres, five or six times more than the warehouses planned at the top of the landfill.

Enough to collect all the trash

This would mean that, with the deposit already built, all the waste that fell into the landfill could be collected, which is equivalent to about 950,000 cubic metres. The work of this new deposit would be carried out in phases, so at the end, all the waste would be sealed in the vicinity of the landfill.

The Department of the Environment of the Basque Government has considered that the location of the new warehouse, its low environmental impact and its increased storage capacity are decisive and has given its approval to the proposal put forward by Verter. Furthermore, they are of the opinion that it is a good thing that waste can be moved within the landfill, as it will not have to circulate through the population centres.

They have set a period of 20 months for the construction of the new deposit, which will be fully sealed. It is expected that some of the storage can start to be used within one month, although it is expected that it will be possible to start using some sections as it is built. In this way, the work of searching for the bodies of the workers Joaquín Beltrán and Alberto Sololuze will be continued. The warehouse where the land and debris that are now being moved is filling up, and you're going to need a new space to stack up all those debris.

120 meters long, 20 meters high

These two slopes are intended to build a dam. This dyke shall have a length of 120 metres, a height of 20 metres and a width of eight metres at the top. They must also be waterproofed to prevent leaching. The construction project of the warehouse, presented by the Verter itself, will cost an estimated €13.4 million.

With this decision, Verter undertakes to collect and seal waste from the landfill and to provide a solution to the problem raised, as the new landfill will also serve to do so. In February, the company claimed that it was absolutely impossible to carry out the work because of the landfill collapse and the Basque Government started the work on a subsidiary basis. This means that the cost of this work will have to be borne by the landfill owner. The Basque Government commissioned Verter to take over the works, and with this proposal the company assumes responsibility, almost four months after the disaster.