Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

The company Glefaran de Balmaseda constantly exceeds the pollution limits established

  • Between 2016 and 2023, Glefaran used Pastguren’s former paper mill as an incinerator to produce electricity. Over these seven years, the emission limits for ash particles were skipped and "endangered human health and the environment". Several officials of the Basque Government and a head of the company have been charged for two environmental crimes in Gipuzkoa.
Artikulu hau CC BY-SA 2.0 lizentziari esker ekarri dugu.

20 September 2024 - 07:00
Zarata mediatikoz beteriko garai nahasiotan, merkatu logiketatik urrun eta irakurleengandik gertu dagoen kazetaritza beharrezkoa dela uste baduzu, ARGIA bultzatzera animatu nahi zaitugu. Geroz eta gehiago gara, jarrai dezagun txikitik eragiten.

The company Glefaran has continuously breached the limits established to regulate the dumping of ash particles, according to a report by the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office in Bizkaia. The company had a biomass plant in Balmaseda (Bizkaia), which was in operation between 2016 and 2023. The emissions of this incinerator have warned that it affected the population of Güeñes (Bizkaia) and Zalla (Bizkaia) and, according to the report, "put human health and the environment at risk".

The company Glefaran (Global Efficiency Aranguren) produced electricity by burning forest raw materials. The neighborhoods of Aranguren and Arangoiti are located near the site of the Encartación plant, and about 15,000 people live there.

In Aranguren there was a paper factory that was built taking advantage of the infrastructure of the municipality's cogeneration plant in 2016. The group Ecologists in Action denounced in 2020 that the landfill of the incinerator was dangerous due to the "great particle runoff" it suffered. She said the incinerator used to release "dust clouds" often, along with soot and ash.

Reports without rigour

Several reports on incinerator emissions and associated health damage have been produced in recent years: The Environmental Department of the Basque Government in 2017 and 2019, the Department of Health in 2018 and the municipalities of Güeñes and Zalla in 2019. However, Ekologistak Martxan has denounced that these reports have no "rigour" and are "scarce in terms of methodology and transparency". Thus, these writings do not give the ability, among other things, to identify the damage to the health of the pollutants that the incinerator of Glefaran has dumped.

It has been four years since neighbours and environmental groups in the area denounced the high levels of pollution of the villages of Güeñes and Zalla. The Balmaseda incinerator, which was closed in 2023, has since been known about the damage caused. The Environmental Prosecutor’s Office in Bizkaia has concluded that there could be environmental offences related to the activity of the incinerator, and has charged four former charges of the Basque Government and one administrator of Glefaran.


You are interested in the channel: Ingurumena
2024-11-20 | ARGIA
They warn that the expansion of the Yesa dam is "a time bomb" if cold water drops are placed in it
The Aragonesist Chunta has asked the Government of Spain to review the project to expand the Yesa dam, following the recent cold drop disaster. In case of suffering this kind of rainfall, That would not have enough capacity to release all that water, so it would be "a serious... [+]

2024-11-20 | Ula Iruretagoiena
Territory and architecture
Data to the territory

In recent weeks it has not been possible for those of us who work in architecture that the climate phenomenon of Valencia has not been translated into our work discourse. Because we need to think about and design the path of water in decks, sewers, plazas and building parks. We... [+]


2024-11-18 | Estitxu Eizagirre
In the CAV there are 1,557 landfills and if unused landfills are not sealed, water will continue to be contaminated.
Under the law, all unused landfills should be closed and sealed since 2008. Ekologistak Martxan appeared in the Basque Parliament to demand compliance with the law: on 12 November he participated in the Committee on Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability (see video... [+]

2024-11-18 | Jakoba Errekondo
Sagarren istorioak

192 milioi sagar 2024. urtean. Segundoero sei sagarretik gora saltzen du Britainia Handiko Tesco supermerkatu kate han ezagunak; ia 27.000 tona. Zenbaki ikusgarriak dira baina are harrigarrigoak dira bertokoak, Ingalaterrako sagarrak direla jakinda.


2024-11-18 | Garazi Zabaleta
La Huerta Viva
The Durango Fair, we leave
The Durango Fair, which is held from 5 to 8 December, is one of the most important meeting points in Basque literature and culture.

2024-11-18 | Nagore Zaldua
Gentleman, dancer or guardor, an invisible treasure
These animals, considered by the ancient Greeks and Romans as mythological beings, having been born and grown at the bottom of the sea, by reaching the size of the earth horses, would have been pulled from the Neptune chariot. They saw them far away, skipping over the peaks of... [+]

Ecofeminism as a collective struggle
Feminist Growth
For us, ecofeminism is not a theory developed by theorists and writers. It is the knowledge we have built through participation in a social collective and the relationship with other collectives and organizations. And because we worry that collective construction will become... [+]

2024-11-15 | Leire Ibar
The Irati Forest is declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO
UNESCO has opened the World Biosphere Reserves Network with eleven new names, including the Irati Forest. This Tuesday, the presidents of the valleys of Salazar and Aezkoa at Aribe received the diploma.

2024-11-14 | Leire Ibar
The Ecosocial Jump begins a presentation tour in Euskal Herria
Presentations have been invited to anyone interested in getting to know the environmental agent or approaching the most eco-social issues. In addition to the presentations, the quotes will offer talks, screenings and some concert. Schedule at the end of the news.

The Silicosis Epidemic: Cases Multiply by Artificial Stone for Cooking
Cases of lung cancer and diseases caused by silica dust have not stopped in recent years. They have jumped alarms in Australia, England or the Spanish State, and they have begun to take steps to ban the manufacture of quartz kitchen tables with crystal silica.

2024-11-13 | Jesús Rodríguez
The drop that was missing to overflow

25 October. The Valencian Meteorology Society has announced that next week a cold drop from high temperatures could cause torrential rains in Valencia. Day by day, the forecasts are confirmed, and on 29 October, in the early morning hours, the State Meteorology Agency has... [+]


Eguneraketa berriak daude