Mariette Althaus lives in a house, in Palmeira, in Monchique, with the sea in the background and “hell” in the back. A quarry in 2003 took his peace and spoiled "the paradise" that he once thought he had found in the Algarve mountains.
As if having to live half-walls with a syenite exploration were not enough, over the years, the exploration area has expanded, surpassing the limits of the license that was granted in 1988 and, despite the General Directorate of Energy and Geology and the Ministry of Environment admit that there are illegalities, the quarry continues to work in an area that is Rede Natura 2000.
The beginning of the history of the quarry at Palmeira dates back to 1988, when it was granted a municipal license, in the name of José António (now deceased), for an exploration area of 317 square meters and the use of machinery with a power of up to 500hp.
The quarry worked until 1997 and entered a period of deactivation that lasted until 2003. However, according to several documents the Sul Informação had access, the explorer decided to reactivate the quarry, transferring the license to a company called Grarimex and adapting it to the new legislation.
The Monchique City Council refused to renew the license, considering that the exploration had been abandoned, but it has not taken the necessary steps to cancel it definitively.
Since the owner of the quarry sent statistical production data to the General Directorate of Geology and Mines, which were not contested by the municipality, the General Directorate of Economy considered that exploration was still active.
According to the residents, «the exploration of stone began, activities began at the site, carrying stones, extracting blocks, making blasting, using machinery with a power of more than 500hp», already in charge of Grarimex.
In 2005, the residents made an exhibition addressed to the Monchique City Council and other entities, such as the Regional Directorate of Economy of the Algarve or the Commission for Regional Coordination and Development (CCDR), accompanied by photographs that showed “inappropriate work in protected areas , watercourses and other actions of environmental degradation and violations of the legislation in force for the safety of people and goods».
The CCDR Algarve, at the beginning of 2005, ended up determining the suspension of the works «due to the lack of safety existing in the operation». However, in June, the Regional Directorate of Economy of the Algarve explained that the quarry could work after having fulfilled the conditions of the "precautionary measure", which involved installing a fence and suspending the "cleaning of the existing heap", which it was located less than 50 meters from the existing dwelling to the north, «works that are not of exploitation».
Months later, in August, the Municipality of Monchique also seized the exploration, for other reasons, since, according to the embargo order, «it was found that, on July 25, the quarry was in operation, since there is earth movement, use of explosives for rock blasting and fragmentation, drilling holes in the stone and cutting with diamond wire" by the company Granimex, which, according to the municipality, "does not hold the permit for this purpose", which it had been awarded, in 1988, to José António.
This embargo lasted until the 17th of October 2005, when the work will have resumed, again under the responsibility of the explorer José António, thus avoiding the validity of the embargo of the municipality on Grarimex.
Over the years, residents say, the exploration area has not stopped growing, surpassing the authorized exploration area in 1988, also reaching the protected area. as the Sul Informação found on the spot, the crater which continues to be excavated is very close to the surrounding houses and on the edge of the land belonging to other owners.
The complaints of those who live near this quarry have not stopped over the years. Precautionary measures, complaints, calls to the GNR… Sometimes, the complaints result in the bodies taking positions, such as an order from the Regional Directorate of Economy of the Algarve, in 2013, which decreed that «the quarry work must be carried out only in the timetable approved together with the Quarry Plan – working days from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 13:00 pm to 17:00 pm” and that failure to comply with this order implies a “crime of disobedience”.
According to the same document, "the timetable in question can only be changed through the approval of a review of the Quarry Plan or, exceptionally, when a need arises, after approval of a duly substantiated request".
Despite this dispatch, the residents complain, the work continues into the night, with spotlights, and also on weekends.
In 2015, the General Directorate of Energy and Geology confirmed the same obligation in a letter to which the Sul Informação had access and, in the same year, the Regional Directorate of Economy of the Algarve sent a new letter to the quarry explorer José António, replicating what he had already communicated when issuing the dispatch dated 2 September 2013. Nothing had changed.
Residents claim that the quarry works in an area protected by the Natura 2000 Network and in the Thermal Waters Protection Perimeter of Caldas de Monchique, which does not have an approved quarry recovery plan, which does not have an Approved Environmental Impact Study, which works unless of 30 meters of housing, which produces noise and dust that endangers the health of the people who live there, which has already degraded water sources that existed there, which does not have adequate protection, nor adequate access to the circulation of the trucks there. they will charge that the licensing is in the name of a private individual, the owner of the land, but that the exploration is carried out by a company that does not belong to them.
Despite all this, in 2014, the Regional Directorate of Economy of the Algarve guaranteed, in a response to a complaint, that all the rules were being complied with, that the exploration was not subject to EIA, as the exploration license never increased. the area, which the quarry predates the creation of the Natura Network, which has an approved recovery plan dating back to 2008…
In the same year, the case reached the European Commission. An investigation process was opened by the Directorate General for the European Environment, but, after having consulted the Portuguese entities, the response was no different and the process was archived.
On April 21, 2016, the General Directorate of Energy and Geology (DGEG) visited the quarry and demanded a series of measures from the heirs of José António, who had died in the meantime, under penalty of «application of sanctions», such as fines, or suspension of the quarry works.
Among the measures required were the carrying out of acoustic measurements and the presentation of the respective results "as requested for a long time and several times", the delimitation of the quarry "with proper soundproofing barriers, of adequate materials and dimensioning and complying with the General Regulation of Noise inside the neighboring lots of Srª Mariette and Sr. Batista", the opening of a hole for the installation of the piezometer, "as indicated by the APA/ARH, for subsequent monthly measurements of the water level and biannual sampling of samples », the delivery of the three-year plan, «rectifying the projects related to the existing quarry plan, ensuring that it accurately reflects the current situation and is a perfectly feasible plan of intentions for the future», the restoration of the zone defense, compliance with working hours, or proceeding with the instruction and delivery of the processes of changing the technical manager and transmitting a quarry license.
The list of requirements is extensive, but according to residents, it was never met. O Sul Informação asked DGEG whether, since 2016, the quarry had been inspected again and whether it had complied with the requirements, but the body sent clarifications to the Ministry of Environment and Energy Transition.
This Ministry answered some questions from our newspaper, but others remained unanswered, such as, for example, who is currently the holder of the exploration license. According to what our newspaper found out, the company Pedra Secular, from Évora, is exploring the quarry. However, according to the DGEG website, the license still remains in the name of the late José António.
Rui André, current mayor of Monchique, confirmed to Sul Informação that this company, Pedra Secular, made "a request to increase the exploration perimeter, which is under analysis", and that, in the past, the municipality "could have taken an action that it did not have, in one of the previous mandates", when Carlos Tuta was president.
The mayor says that he has been "meeting with the residents and following the situation" and that he shares their concerns. Rui André guarantees that, on the part of the Chamber, there will be no positive opinion to expand the perimeter and still blames the various entities that have not acted over the years, even accusing the DGEG of "closing its eyes to the situation".
According to the Monchiquense mayor, since the inspection of the activities of the quarries is state-owned, “the Chamber cannot do much. We did what we could, which is to have the works stopped outside the license area”, that is, outside the 317 square meters of 1988.
However, this does not guarantee that the embargo is being fulfilled and, according to Mariette Althaus, it is not. "It's worse than ever," he guarantees. “They continue to dig more and more. Now they have already affected the water line that supplies my house».
Regarding working hours and noise, «everything remains the same, they start early in the morning and also work at night. They affect not only the owners, but also the fauna, with artificial light», accuses Mariette Althaus.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy Transition, questioned by our newspaper, explains that this is a licensed quarry, but does not clarify on behalf of whom and says that «DEGEG confirms that a new request for the Revision of the Quarry Plan is in progress ( without expansion of the quarry area) that was not well instructed. Thus, it is necessary to reformulate this request in order to include the analysis of the piezometers that they are required to carry out».
The tutelage also confirms that the defense zones were suppressed and that the participation of the Ministry of Environment was sent to the General Inspection of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning.
On the existence of works «without complying with the approved Quarry Plan and probably outside the quarry area, a report was also sent to ASAE», and, according to the Ministry of João Matos Fernandes, «there are also old complaints regarding the annoyance (noise and dust) caused by quarrying'.
The Government also guarantees that «all the competent entities have been involved and are following the process (DSRHG from DGEG because of Caldas de Monchique, APA-ARH, ICNF and City Council)». It remains to be seen how many and which entities will take measures now, which have not been taken in the last 15 years, in what has been a “pushing game” of responsibilities.
This is the nightmare of Mariette Althaus and the other residents of Palmeira that still insists on being a reality.
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