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Releases of pollutants to different places in the municipality of Mira, on the northern coast of Coimbra district, are undermining agriculture, tourism and bivalve production. Entrepreneurs in the region regret that effluent discharges without any treatment to Vala Real have occurred for months.
Businessman and environmentalist, Rogério Guímaro denounces pollution and records videos since last year. He speaks of an "environmental crime". The businessman, whose production of watercress in the town of Casal de S. Tomé in Mira, depends on the water of Vala Real, says that the discharges have already caused him losses of the order of 850 thousand euros in the four hectares of land that he had planted. "I have no products, this has been happening since February 2017," he adds, adding that this was noted more in October of last year when Royal Vala's flow was reduced in Due to the drought
Rogério Guímaro's description is "of enormous health risk" because there are "uninterrupted discharges, even without rain and without saturated groundwater." These dumps contain tampons, sanitary napkins, excrement and urine ", he exemplifies.
João Luís Pinho has a rural tourism unit near Lagoa de Mira, one of the plans of water affected by pollution and where dead fish are observed on the banks.The businessman points out that besides the sea beach, one of the "main assets" of Mira is its water system, with the bicycle-pedestrian pathway that accompanies part of the water courses. "There have often been repairs [dos hóspedes] to the state of the water, with foul odor, in wastewater ", he describes. With the house opened since 2015, João Luís Pinho regrets that the county "loses some of its attractiveness".
Businessmen spoke to the PUBLIC on the sidelines of a visit by three PS deputies to the Assembly of the Republic on the ground. Socialist deputy Pedro Coimbra told reporters what "seems to be a serious and important environmental problem". According to Pedro Coimbra, who was in Mira after the site was visited by members of the Left Bloc, the environmental group Les Verts and the PCP, the problem seems to be in the main collector, who comes from Cantanhede and takes the waste to north, to the Ílhavo purification station, already in the district of Aveiro. However, this collector is "seemingly overloaded", so the system, which would only unload in emergency situations, does so at any time.
Questioned by the PUBLIC, the Center of Waters of the Coastal Center (AdCL) reports that the discharges are due to the "excessive flow" of the network "low" (municipalities) which reaches the stations of altitude AdCL in the regions Cantanhede and Mira. "The company, which has 29 municipalities in Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria and Santarém and Águas de Portugal, also said that work has been done in the network to increase pumping capacity.
mitigation measures "were aimed at solving the problem until the construction of UTEU Cantanhede / Mira," a record which, according to the AdCL, involves' difficult negotiations with mayors. "
However, even after these mitigation works, landfills continued, so" studies are under way to determine the causes of the discharges, with the municipalities of Mira and Cantanhede ", answers AdCL Last Friday, the secret State Secretary Carlos Martins, went to Mira and, quoted by Agência Lusa, granted the concessionaire a three-month period for the "diagnosis to be made". On the same day, the president of the municipality of Mira, Raul Almeida, declared that he "was losing patience" for the lack of solution of the problem and admitted the case.
But the impact does not remain in the municipality of Mira, since there is a freshwater channel that connects the Barrinha da Praia de Mira to the Ria de Aveiro . Francisco Avelelas, bivalve producer at Gafanha da Encarnação (Aveiro District), reports that oyster farmers face mortality rates of 80 to 90%. The impact has been felt since March, when rainwater increased flow. However, it is guaranteed that because of the nature of the contaminants, it is difficult to establish a direct link between releases and the death of part of the bivalves.
He also warns that there is a risk of change in the classification of estuarine production areas, which can range from A to D. Level A means that direct sales can be made, Class D prohibits picking. At this time, the Gafanha da Encarnação area is ranked B, which means that it can be sold after debugging. However, depending on the degree of pollution, you can switch to C. "With this classification, we can only order for the transformation.It is not of commercial interest", explains Bruno Silva, also producer of bivalves in the estuary. And if that had happened? "We packed all the boots and we all sold ice cream," says Francisco Avelelas, also a marine biologist.
Bruno Silva says that the sale of hulls at auction is between 1.5 and 2 euros per kilo, while a kilogram of treatment costs 70 cents. The producer speaks of "odors" of urine, feces and chemicals "that sometimes feel in the ria.
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