The League for the Protection of Nature (LPN) questions, in a statement, the "transparency and legality" of the process that led to the decision by the Portuguese Environment Agency not to subject the hydrocarbon exploration well off Aljezur to an Environmental Impact Assessment.
LPN, which defends and subscribes to the position taken by the Algarve Livre de Petróleo Platform, to which it belongs, expresses its "indignation" at the decision of the APA and raises doubts about this process "in which the public entity responsible for ensuring high standards of protection citizens decide first to raise doubts about the need for EIA in the oil prospecting activity, then creating a process of public consultation, which, by its result, turned out to be a farce».
According to Inês Cardoso, marine biologist at LPN, "what happened in this process should promote an urgent reflection on the transparency and motivation of the current EIA procedure and, without a shadow of a doubt, a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of the legislation itself."
«Although 100% of the participations in the public consultation launched by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) appealed and presented arguments for carrying out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the APA took the incongruous decision not to subject the Project to this procedure to this procedure. Survey and Research of Hydrocarbons Santola 1x», stresses the LPN, in its statement.
And the oldest Portuguese environmental association even cites the APA's own report, which says that «all the opinions are in favor of an Environmental Impact Assessment procedure for the project under analysis, taking into account the location, size and its characteristics'.
However, stresses the LPN, "the APA chose to ignore the opinion expressed by all those who decided to participate in this public consultation, making a simplistic interpretation of the content of the opinions, generalizing that "on the content of the considerations expressed in the public consultation, these generally concern the exploration of hydrocarbons, a matter that is not the object of this pronouncement”. This finding is at odds with the report of the public consultation, now made public».
"In this public consultation participated individuals and entities that, as a whole, represent thousands of citizens", adds the League for the Protection of Nature.
The decision of the Portuguese Environment Agency has already been criticized by political parties such as the PS and the PSD, Algarve Tourist Region, or from Oil Free Algarve Platform. President of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve and more than a hundred protesters, yesterday, in Aljezur.
To deal with this case and decide on a common position, there will be, this Friday, two meetings of mayors: one of AMAL, which brings together the 16 Algarve municipalities, another of the Terras do Infante Association, constituted by the Councils of Aljezur, Lagos and Vila do Bishop.
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