The private municipal package 2017.urteko of Aguas Municipales de Vitoria-Gasteiz, S.A. (AMVISA) presents the memory. Of all the data, the most significant and serious is that of the Zadorra River, where in one year 5 billion litres of untreated water were poured into the river that passes through Vitoria-Gasteiz.

As if this were not enough, it has become clear that the waters of Zadorra are contaminated with lindane. The toxic and dangerous substance that has been used as a pesticide for years was found in the river. The first clues were discovered in 2013. Since then, an unregulated amount of lindane has been found in the water, except when the river has a high flow rate.

According to several studies, the waste of lindane displaced from the plants in Bizkaia to Vitoria-Gasteiz is the one that currently contaminates the waters of Zadorra. There were three plants producing lindane in Bizkaia between 1950 and 1990: Barakaldo, Erandio and Amorebieta. In total, nearly 100,000 tons of waste were generated among the three.

The waste arrived at the Gardelegi landfill. It remains unclear how and when. In 2015, it was discovered that the current pollution of the river is caused by the waste contained in the municipal landfill. This was demonstrated by the inspections carried out by the Basque Government and the Ebro Water Confederation to find the source of the emissions.

Leachates from unsealed areas of the landfill are contaminated: that is, underground liquids that pass through the waste that is accumulated in the landfill. These liquids transport the material produced by the decomposing waste. These leachates or liquids go directly to the Crispiña treatment plant, untreated, through the sanitation network. And going through the sewage treatment plant, that water goes to the river later.

This news has been published by Hala Bedi Radio and has been published under the Creative Commons license.