"We have analysed the documentation of the Government of Navarra and reaffirmed that there has been no type of infringement in the production of waste and that the GHK has not breached any obligation," said Jauregi in Parliament.

The Minister of Industry has recognised that "this waste originated as a result of an exceptional situation of the GHK" and that it "must comply" with the conditions laid down in the authorisation. He explains that there are "important" points regarding the delivery of waste to an authorised manager. "The waste manager, in this case Ecoemre de Navarra, must comply with the material acceptance protocol and treat the material correctly. The Government of Navarra tells us that it has had to implement sanctions against Ecofert for treating waste through an unauthorised procedure. After receiving the communication from the Government of Navarra, the Department has analyzed the issue and no infringement of the LSH has been identified, no violation of the permit has been identified." Nevertheless, it has shown its willingness to cooperate in a coordinated manner between the two administrations concerned.

EH spokesman Bildu, Mikel Otero, said that Counsellor Jauregi "has not yet denied the reality of leaching." Other "worrying" questions have also been left unanswered, as the journalist Iñaki Iriondo has written in Naiz. "It takes good shipping to Navarre, without explaining whether the Basque Government complied with its obligation," says Iriondo.
Otero adds: "We should not have that debate today if the incinerator had complied with the established requirements and the Basque Government had applied the laws and the rules. They could not be sent to Navarra and, in addition, the incinerator did not have permission to produce leachate."

Thousands of tonnes of leachate

Thousands of tons of leachate were transported to the Artajona waste treatment plant between 2022 and 2023 illegally from the Zubieta incinerator to change the identification code and collect it as "sludges". The scandal broke out a few months earlier and has joined the criminal courts, in which a court in Donostia-San Sebastián investigates the case, in which the Environment Deputy in Gipuzkoa, José Ignacio Asensio, is also under investigation at the request of the prosecutor’s office. Asensio is the head of the public company, which manages Zubieta’s garbage, subcontracted by GHK.

Although the Zubieta incinerator was not authorised for the production of leachate, Ekondakine transported to Artajona for at least one and a half years those substances that could lead to ecotoxicity, claiming that they were due to "exceptional events". However, the Basque Government did not control it or receive information on the characterization of the material because it was a "relationship between two private entities", as acknowledged by Arantxa Tapia in the answer to a question by EH Bildu in the Basque Parliament.

This plant, in addition to the 5,500 tonnes of leachate taken from Zubieta, received thousands of tonnes of leachate from the Oleofat plant in Tudela, a company based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, which was not authorised for treatment. Last June, journalist Urko Apaolaza pointed out that Ecofertek can appeal to the resolution of the Government of Navarra and that the case can be brought to justice.

As we said three or four months ago, the Government of Navarra asked the Department of the Environment of the Basque Government to open a dossier of sanctions against the Ekondakin company of Zubieta for the transfer of unauthorised waste to the Ecofert company of Artajona. In addition, the Environmental Minister of Navarre, José María Aierdi, has reported that his department issued a resolution banning the collection of waste. The Department of the Environment reported the signing of the resolution for the provisional and precautionary closure of the Artajona plant.

At the beginning of September, on the other hand, we explained that the Basque Government is prepared to talk of punishing Ekondakin for the illegal waste from Artajona. After the meeting between the presidents of the CAV and Navarra, Imanol Pradales and María Chivite, Pradales announced that there is a "will" to bring together the representatives of both governments to analyze whether the Ekondakin society, which manages the incinerator of Zubieta, should be punished for the illegal waste that took to the Artajona landfill. Pradales clarified that the intergovernmental meeting would be to discuss the transport of liquid waste between Zubieta and Artajona, but he admitted that the issue is “technically slippery” and “complex”.

And on 19 September, Counsellor Mikel Jauregi explained that they will not punish Ekondaki, who manages the Zubieta incinerator, as requested by the Government of Navarra. The counsellor replied in writing to a question from the MEP, Álvaro Gotxi: "This institution, once the information submitted has been analyzed, considers that there is no infringement in terms of waste generation," he says. In any case, he replied that they remain prepared to talk to the Government of Navarra "to clarify any issue or to provide more information" about the situation.