The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) has just ordered the suspension of ongoing drilling in a land on the Perdigão site, in Aljezur, ordered by the company Domus Verde – Empreendimentos Imobiliários SA, a limited liability company allegedly linked to the businessman Sousa Cintra, whose company Portfuel were awarded the two blocks on shore prospecting for hydrocarbons in the Algarve.
According to Sul Informação he learned, the decision was taken after a visit by Sebastião Teixeira, responsible for the APA/ARH Algarve, to the field, this morning, accompanied by the mayor of Aljezur. Following this visit, in the afternoon, as our newspaper reported first hand, there was a meeting at the GNR headquarters in Aljezurense, with representatives from IGAMAOT – General Inspection of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning, APA and SEPNA.
Hence the decision to suspend the work of opening a second hole, with a maximum depth of 500 meters, since it was found at the site that the previous hole, of 300 meters, had already resulted in abundant water.
Sebastião Teixeira confirmed to our newspaper that “we had the work suspended because we verified on the spot that the water produced was already sufficient for the horticultural crops planned there”. The geologist responsible for the APA/ARH Algarve added that a "flow test will now be carried out, which is a test of the borehole's productivity", but the estimates made indicate that there is abundant water.
On the other hand, mayor José Amarelinho commented: "if the argument of the company promoting the drilling is that they are looking for water for a hypothetical farm, their objective has already been reached and therefore they excuse themselves from drilling more".
The mayor, who has been one of the most active voices in contesting onshore hydrocarbon research (on shore), despite not having been invited to participate in this afternoon's meeting between the entities, he thinks that the fact that, during his visit to the field in the morning, «we met the Portfuel geologist there, who is following the work of the opening of the holes by Domus Verde» will have weighed in the decision of the APA.
«It was clear that what is happening there is not a simple opening of a well to find water for an agricultural holding, as the company would have us believe. The purpose is quite different, especially since it is known that, to drill a hole for oil exploration, a lot of water is needed», guaranteed José Amarelinho.
As for the fate of the water being extracted by Domus Verde, Sebastião Teixeira, director of APA/ARH Algarve, says he cannot comment. «We license hundreds of boreholes in the Algarve, for agricultural purposes, as this one was presented to us. But it is not normal for us to demand, at the head, an agricultural project to license the borehole», he added.
Questioned by Sul Informação, Sebastião Teixeira also guaranteed that, from the company Domus Verde – Empreendimentos Imobiliários SA, “it is not licensed, nor has any other request for drilling been filed.
These drillings that have been made since December in Perdigão (Aljezur) were the target of complaints to IGAMAOT by the Platform Algarve Livre de Petróleo (PALP) and the association ASMAA – Algarve Surf & Marine Activities Association, as well as were denounced by facebook groups as “No to Fracking – Preserving Aljezur" or "Fracking Vila do Bispo? Not!".
Updated at 19:43 pm, adding the statements by Sebastião Teixeira, director of the APA/ARH Algarve, to the Sul Informação.
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