Environmentalists in Action have denounced that the forests of Jata and Enekuri have a high degree of pollution by lindane, according to environmental sources. In these two plots there were landfills a long time ago. Cigarettes were closed and the forest has been opened on them without any previous cleaning. The association denounced two years ago in the courts the contamination of the Jata de Lemoiz plot, in which it was estimated that there were 10,000 tons of lindane thrown uncontrollably. Since then, no action has been taken. On the contamination situation of the former landfill of Enekuri, in the municipality of Bilbao, he was alerted in May. Now, samples have been taken from the trees of the forests of Jata and Enekuri, which have been analysed.

Ekologistak Martxan says the results are clear: “The forests of Jata and Enekuri are very polluted.” In the two wood samples taken in Jata, 3.14 and 6.47 milligrams of lindane per kilogram of wood have been found. In both enekuri, the price is 1.81 and 3.64 milligrams of lindane per kilo.

Many risks

The trees of Jata and Enekuri are exploited for the timber industry. “That means we are exporting poison through wood and its derivatives.” Among derivatives, paper production has been set as an example.

The environmental association has underlined the second danger in the health and safety sector in the Basque Country. Lindane can be converted to hydrogen in case of fire. “A deadly gas, I. The most widely used in the World War and they keep looking away.”

Institutional indifference

Ekologistak Martxan has called on the institutions to “take immediate steps towards a solution”. He has denounced that the Basque Government was aware of these illegal landfills, “and 30 years have passed without corrective measures, while this product that causes cancer in the environment was spreading.” The association recalled the European Parliament’s report on Lindane pollution in the EU. In his view, doing nothing is “the worst, because it creates environmental problems, while increasing the economic cost of the solution”. That is why Ekologistak Martxan has not ruled out the possibility of legal proceedings being opened against the institutions and political parties.