The possible installation of a feldspar mine at Corte Pequena, in Monchique, is increasingly a mirage. The opinion of the Portuguese Environment Agency in relation to the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) presented by the company that intended to install the exploration, Sifucel, was unfavorable and the population, mayors and environmental associations can breathe a sigh of relief.
The Environmental Impact Statement (DIA), dated 17th August, signed by the Secretary of State for the Environment Carlos Martins, reads that, «in view of the very significant negative impacts identified at the level of Ecological Systems, a determining environmental factor in this assessment given the location of the project in Rede Natura 2000, and the significant negative impacts expected in terms of water resources and the landscape, considering that these same impacts are not subject to minimization, an DIA is issued unfavorable to the project for the execution of the “Mine of Small cut”».
According to the APA, this project “induces very significant direct and indirect impacts, which cannot be minimized, on flora and fauna and on habitats with priority conservation status, contrary to the management guidelines of the Natura 2000 Network Sectoral Program and its conservationist importance. ».
Rui André, mayor of Monchique, has warned since the beginning of the process that an exploration of feldspar in that location would contaminate the public water supply, with abstractions near the Corte Pequena. This is also one of the arguments invoked by the Evaluation Committee for the Declaration of Environmental Impact to be unfavorable to Sifucel's intentions.
According to the DIA, there is a «risk of contamination of groundwater during exploration, which may occur through the infiltration of water from the exploration or the discharge of water into the water line (as provided for in the mining plan), which passes along with public intakes. (and that later it will also infiltrate).
At a socio-economic level, the APA assumes the existence of positive impacts, such as the creation of ten direct jobs, even though this is considered a benefit, "little significant".
In the public consultation, with only unfavorable opinions regarding the EIA, there was participation of Águas do Algarve, Monchique Municipal Assembly, Alferce Parish Council, Alferce Parish Assembly, environmental associations Quercus, Almargem and A Nossa Terra and also citizens Timon Vogler, Mattheus Noordeloos and Júlia Silva. A public petition with 1000 signatures was also delivered.
In the opinion of the City Council, the municipality showed “opposition to the project, referring to the non-compliance with the Monchique Municipal Master Plan and the significant negative impacts arising from the exploitation of the project, in particular in terms of water resources, ecological systems and socio-economy. The municipality also highlights the project's contribution to the demotion of Tourism».
The concerns of local authorities, associations and citizens "were considered in the assessment and correspond, for the most part, to concerns also identified in the assessment carried out, being reflected in the opinion of the CA and in this decision", reads the DIA.
The possible installation of a feldspar mine in Monchique is a process that has dragged on since 2010, when the first request for prospecting and researching this mineral in the municipality was made.
Chamber president Rui André has always been against this possibility and even embargoed works, allegedly prospecting for feldspar, by Sifucel, because they were carried out without authorization.
Record the various chapters of this "plot" in this report from Sul Informação.
NOTE: Article originally published to 22 September, at 16:18 am. Updated on 27 September with the inclusion of all participants in the public consultation and with the “reasons in fact and in law that justify the decision”.
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