The Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) declared the exploration license for the quarry of Palmeira nº2 in Monchique null and void, and Mariette Althaus and the other neighbors of this exploration, after 17 years, «heard the birds again».
This quarry, which worked in an area that is the Natura 2000 network and which is part of the protection perimeter of the Mineral Water of Caldas de Monchique, had a long history of non-compliance with rules and “bad neighbourhood” that the Sul Informação revealed, first hand, in November 2018.
Since then, the authorities began to monitor the situation more closely and, in December, Nuno Banza, then general inspector of the General Inspectorate of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning (IGAMAOT), revealed to the Sul Informação that this body would intervene if the situation warranted it.
This actually happened and, in January 2019, in clarification to our newspaper, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Transition (MATE) revealed that the IGAMAOT was «running instructional steps, aimed at collecting information from the Municipality of Monchique, ICNF, CCDR, DGEG and APA, with a view to carrying out an extraordinary inspection action, focusing on land use planning and nature conservation».
In February of the same year, the quarry of Palmeira nº 2 was included in the Intervention Plan for Quarries in Critical Situation, being given “high priority” in the intervention.
According to this plan, signaling and sealing works would be necessary, as well as studies and execution projects. The planned interventions had an estimated cost of over 90 thousand euros.
Still, despite this diagnosis, days after the publication of the plan in Diário da República, MATE clarified that the quarry could continue to work, for not exploring outside the licensed area and for having the mining plan approved.
However, the ministry recalled, in the clarification sent to the Sul Informação, that the extraordinary inspection of IGAMAOT was still ongoing.
And it was even the results of this extraordinary inspection that, after a year and a half, led DGEG to declare the license of this quarry, which was currently operated by the company Pedra Secular, headquartered in Évora, null and void.
According to documentation available to our newspaper, it was “based on the IGAMAOT Report” that the DGEG formalized, on 30 June this year, the decision to declare the exploration license null and void. This, after the exploration company "has not presented any statement in the scope of the Stakeholders' Hearing underlying the draft decision in the sense of the declaration of nullity of the Quarry Exploration License of which it was notified".
DGEG's decision was communicated to the company on 22 July and, on 11 August, to Monchique City Council, which received the decision with "mixed feelings".
In statements to the Sul Informação, the mayor Rui André admitted that “it is a pity that, on the one hand, the resource is not exploited. However, in that place, he was jeopardizing other resources. It was within the protection perimeter of Água de Monchique, a company that, if we have to compare the direct economic impact for the municipality, employs almost 70 workers, almost all from Monchique».
This scale comparison is made because, according to Rui André, the quarry that operated in Palmeira «had few employees, who were not from here. The company also did not have its headquarters in Monchique and the closure will not have a negative impact on the economy”.
Even so, Rui André does not close the door to this type of syenite exploration, despite defending «a path of balance. The county is large and it could be possible to explore in other areas, the PDM foresees some places. But, in this specific case, we believe that this balance is impossible to achieve and it seems to us the best option to cancel the license. That was also the analysis of DGEG'.
The mayor also makes a note of the performance of the entities in the case of the Palmeira quarry, over the years. “We are aware that the perspective of the entities must change. Often, the Chamber was on the people's side, defending better exploitation, but we realized that, from the supervisory body, this was not always the most important aspect and it gave more importance to the country's currency».
Now, the autarchy wants the entities to act again and, you know the Sul Informação, has already sent letters to DGEG and CCDR Algarve asking how these two entities "intend to monitor compliance with the environmental and landscape restoration plan (which is part of the quarry plan) regarding its closure, since it is believed that the guarantee environmental guarantee by the operator must guarantee compliance with the legal obligations arising from the licenses and relating to the implementation of that Plan».
In theory, it would have to be the exploration company that would ensure the environmental recovery of the quarry area, but if that doesn't happen, Rui André says that the inspection entities will have to assume this responsibility.
«DEGG is in a position to require the company to carry out the recovery plan. If you don't, or don't have the conditions, the entities must act, doing the work and presenting the costs to the explorers», he defends.
Even so, admits the mayor, “if all went well now, I would find it strange. But we cannot allow a crater of that dimension to remain there».
In the Palmeira area, it proved the Sul Informação, you can hear the birds and Mariette Althaus who, for 17 years, fought against that quarry behind her house, can finally enjoy her property.
«There is no dust, the plants are no longer gray, they are green again. It's amazing. I believe that I have already paid my debt on earth», he says.
The crater at the back from which tons of syenite came out, like a scar on the landscape, remains, but Mariette Althaus, despite regretting its existence, after so many years of struggle, just wants to sit down and read a book in the garden.
“If they plug the hole, it will take millions of dirt trucks to pass in front of my door and I don't want that anymore. It can stay like this, the hole can stay», he sentences.
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