Argument between the government of Navarre and the provincial council of Gipuzkoa over the shipment of waste to Artajona

The Minister for Rural Development and the Environment of the Government of Navarra, José Maria Aierdistated on Tuesday that the company Ecofert Sansoain illegally received liquid leachate from the Gipuzkoa waste treatment plant, in particular 2,100 tons in 2022 and 3,400 more in 2023.

The Artajona company has not complied with the integrated environmental permit, Aierdi explained, and therefore the ministry has closing the branch as a precaution and the opening disciplinary proceedings.

The leachate products are liquids released when passing solid waste, as can happen in an incinerator. These fluids may contain toxic substances and must be managed properly to avoid negative effects on the environment.

The Regional Executive announced last December that the company Ecofert Sansoain de Artajona liquid waste received wrong codes of the Gipuzkoa environmental complex in Zubieta, which includes an incinerator.

Given the ability to receive leachate disguised as sludge, an investigation file was opened by the Navarrese inspectors. At the same time, the Guardia Civil, through the Sepronabegan an investigation led by a court in Donostia-San Sebastián, which has an ongoing criminal case over the management of the incinerator.

Aierdi explained that the coding of the waste sent to Artajona is done at the source, but “the crucial thing in this case is that it is liquid waste, which, regardless of the coding, should not have been accepted by the facilities.”

However, Gipuzkoa’s sustainability delegate, José Ignacio Asensiohas said it is “false” that this area has been irregularly sending leachate from the Zubieta incinerator to Artajona, has assured that those transferred there are properly coded and authorized, and has accused the government of Navarre of “avoid responsibilities”.

Asensio made these statements during a press conference he held last Wednesday in Donostia-San Sebastián, in response to “inaccuracies” and “outright falsehoods” released by Aierdi, in a parliamentary appearance.

The Socialist deputy has rejected and denied Aierdi’s “gratuitous” accusations by showing the media documents that prove “the total transparency” of the Gipuzkoa institutions’ actions.

Regarding the coding of leachate exported from the Zubieta complex (waste liquids that arise among the solid waste and are not incinerated), he specified that these originally cataloged with LER (European Waste List) number 190812 and has the relevant communication and approval documents from the Basque Government.

“The majority of that leachate has been sent there Sadder“(authorized company based in Bilbao) and, “to a lesser extent”, to the Navarrese Ecofert, in both cases “with the same code”, which “seems to be authorized in the integrated environmental permit” of the Artajona plant, issued by the Government of Navarre, has outstanding .

Asensio also showed the contract of the winner of the Gipuzkoa waste complex with that company from the Foral community for the transfer and treatment of this type of leachate.

has rejected sharp that those sent to Navarre were poisonous because, as he stated, from analysis by the accredited firm SGS, they had a “negative ecotoxicity result”, so the accusation “is plainly false”.

After clarifying that Ecofert receives this type of waste not only from Zubieta, but from “different origins”, he emphasized that “the responsibility and control over what happens” in that company’s facilities “corresponds to the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Navarre”.

Asensio concluded his speech by saying it is “intolerable” that the Navarre government has known about irregularities in that company “for more than a year” and is now dedicating itself to “shifting responsibilities” to Gipuzkoa.