Following this Wednesday's meeting between the presidents of the CAV and Navarra, Imanol Pradales and María Chivite, Pradales announced the "will" of both governments to meet to discuss whether the Ekondakin company, which manages the Zubieta incinerator, should be punished for the illegal waste it brought to the Artajona landfill. This is taken up by the EFE agency.

The Government of Navarra has ordered the closure of the Artajona plant and has imposed a fine of more than EUR 100,000 on the company managing it, Ecofert. The Environment Minister, José Mari Aierdi, also explained at a hearing in the Navarre Parliament in June that he asked the Basque Government to do the same with Ekondakin and to open a dossier of sanctions.

From Zubieta to Artajona, thousands of tonnes of leachate were transported between 2022 and 2023, despite the fact that the incinerator has no authorisation for the production of leachate and the landfill of Artajona for its collection. To do so, they took them as if they were “sludge”, with a new LER code. The Basque Government, moreover, was unaware of this characterization.

The case is carried out by a court of Donostia-San Sebastian in criminal proceedings, following the complaint lodged by the chief prosecutor of Gipuzkoa. A year ago EiTB gathered – on the basis of information from GuraSOS – that the court was investigating in this case José Ignacio Asensio, president of the Waste Consortium of Gipuzkoa (GHK) and MEP of the Environment of Gipuzkoa.

Pradales clarified that the intergovernmental meeting would be to discuss the transport of liquid waste between Zubieta and Artajona, but admitted that the matter is “technically slippery” and “complex”, as read in the Eldiario.es.