The palm oil residues that washed ashore on the islands of Armona, Culatra, Farole desert, in Faro and Olhão, on Wednesday, are already being cleaned. This work is being carried out by elements of the Maritime Authority, which are joined by both volunteers and inhabitants of the islands.
According to the SOS Ria Formosa movement, which met yesterday with the Port Authority of Olhão and Faro, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests and Civil Protection, it was decided that all these entities will “cooperate”, having brought together “a group of inhabitants and lovers of the islands that will leave spread among the various affected communities».
Nunes Ferreira, captain of the Port of Olhão, told Público newspaper that he was working «with the other entities, such as the municipal councils [of Faro and Olhão], the Natural Park [of Ria Formosa] or the residents' associations» of the housing nuclei of the barrier islands to place 150 volunteers on the land on Saturday and another 150 on Sunday.
The cause of what happened is not yet known, but the captain of the Port of Olhão assured that "it has already started an investigation to find those responsible for dumping this waste into the sea".
The composition of this palm oil is not yet fully known, but according to the first APA analyses, the hypothesis that it is a hydrocarbon is excluded, according to the Public's account.
According to the same daily, "among the possibilities of investigation is the possibility of eviction by a ship that passed off the Algarve coast before January 4".
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