The Basque Government opens the door to drillers in the Montes de Vitoria
- The Department of the Environment of the Basque Government has criticised the decisions taken by the Department of the Environment to declare the Montes de Vitoria as a natural park. Consequently, the intention to reopen the first two wells of the hydraulic fracturing at Subijana may regain strength.
Much of Hego Euskal Herria is in the spotlight of companies that want to exploit gas through hydraulic fracturing. In the case of Álava and Bizkaia, practically all the territory. But things are moving very slowly. It is clear that they have not yet begun digging, and the time to start digging is delayed. Those who planned to build the first wells for 2007 would hardly think that 2014 would also go without putting the machines to work.
When he began to talk about fracking in this corner of the world, all eyes looked towards the field that appears in the photo next door, near Subilla, where the first two wells were expected to be built. But the companies that wanted it had reason to doubt. This area is located in the Montes de Vitoria and until recently the procedures have been initiated for the Montes de Vitoria to become a natural park. The minutes of the meetings between SHESA (Basque public oil company) and the companies Heyco and Cambria show that in 2007 the president of Heyco asked whether there could be any environmental obstacle to the fracking; a representative of SHESA replied that they should be careful with the future protection regulation of the Montes de Vitoria. As the implementation of this protection progressed, the intention to drill two wells at Subijana was left out.
The procedure for declaring the area as a natural park has been promoted by pp from the City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz. But, at last, the Basque Government has decided to say no. It is not a natural park, but a small part of the originally planned area for the Montes de Vitoria with the weakest category of European protection zone. The main argument is that they have taken into account the allegations of workers in the primary sector of the surrounding villages, who did not want a strong protection figure to be established that would hinder their economic activity.
The fact is that the Subijana camp, as well as five hundred parts of the Montes de Vitoria, have been left without legal protection. The perforators have the free way. The Algerian journalist Iker Armentia, who closely follows the incidents of hydraulic fracture, has tweeted: The message from the Basque Government is that it is not appropriate to give great support to the Montes de Vitoria, as it is an area that can bring great benefit. Despite some ambiguity in the speech, the facts show that the PNV has returned to positions favorable to fracking – if it has ever been against – since its return to Lakua.
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