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Citizens and regional movements demand "the immediate cancellation of the prospecting and exploration contracts of Batalha and Pombal"
United against the drilling of Aljubarrota, criticize "strongly the non-decision" of the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) and "vague statements" of the Minister of the Environment and guarantee to have already planned "several actions in the West and Central Region", which
"We do not accept the establishment of the oil or gas industry in our region because it is more than proven that there are no industries of this kind. type and negative environmental impacts, "says the group of citizens and regional movements, especially since, he says," we want a country that invests and "
For the group" it is urgent to Stop this environmental calamity, decided unilaterally by successive governments without listening to the local populations and local authorities, and which, moreover, will have no economic benefit to the region "
The public consultation process and the resulting publication of results -" beyond the deadline of 20 working days "- still reveals, according to the group," the total discredit of the APA and the Minister of the Environment as a governmental authority and because they refuse to conclude that & # 39; 39 an environmental impact assessment is required on the grounds that the same document that they gave to the public consultation has no validity. "
They also claim that the Minister José Manuel Fernandes and the opinion of the APA" suggest that the hole for gas prospecting will actually be postponed but, nevertheless, we consider these statements vague, p transparent and without administrative acts that formalize the decision, not respecting the democratic processes of public consultation. "
They therefore demand the immediate cancellation of the two concessions of exploration and gas exploration in the central area," a clear plan of the Ministry of Environment and Energy. APA, and that all documentation and studies produced by Australis Oil and Gas are publicly available and searchable, on the basis of the right to information and the right of public participation provided by law. "
The group then reveals that the document "Survey Investigation and Research in the Field of Battle Concession", which served as a basis for the public consultation conducted by the APA between March 27, 2018 and May 11 of This year
The group complains however that this opinion, rendered on June 5, was the subject of an agreement between the company and the company "Australis Oil and Gas" only on the contacts of the citizens concerned ", that is to say" no notification shall be given ". has been sent because it is mandatory in the public consultation process ". that the report and plans submitted by this company "do not have a level, details appropriate to a project" because they have no specific area of ​​intervention, which does not allow "to identify and evaluate the
The report of the company is therefore considered" vague, weak and sloppy, presenting little information, something also mentioned by the & # 39; 39 "National Market Entity". (ENMC) according to the APA, said the group, which describes the whole process as "ridiculous not only for the project itself and for the environmental risks potential for both Alcobaça and the entire region ".
"We do not accept the fact that the APA has pronounced publicly out of time and without any concrete opinion, and that this" non-decision "could be a shortcut to facilitate a future decision to proceed without study of environmental impact, "he adds. the contestatários.
And they reveal that the public consultation received more than 90 opinions, both from organizations assigned to the APA and from municipal and environmental organizations, "with almost every opinion that comes are expressed in favor of an assessment of environmental impact ".

(Text written with the old spelling)