Government announces four year 'Tagus pollution' action plan

With perfect timing, the Portuguese government has announced a €2.5 million investment in an action plan to prevent future episodes of pollution in the Tagus River, where high pollution levels were recorded this year.

A film of the still-foaming Tagus was posted on Facebook today, showing the keen need for government action that clearly has failed to halt the dumping of waste from pulp factories situated along the banks of the river. (HERE)

The new action plan was approved by the Council of Ministers on Thursday, June 6, but seeks only to “deepen the knowledge of the Tagus river basin and the economic operators that operate in the area, so as to reduce the risk of pollution,” rather than tackle the problem.

"The objective is to ensure conditions for an effective preventive action of the competent authorities that allows avoidance of future polluting episodes or, at least, to minimise their impact," reads a ministerial statement, failing to point out that this already is the responsibility of the Portuguese Environment Agency whose lacklustre performance, especially its almost non-existent water monitoring regime, has deliberately ignored the problems caused by big riverside businesses.

The new programme, financed by the Environmental Fund, will last four years, after which it can be replicated on other of Portugal’s rivers.

The Minister of Environment, João Matos Fernandes, explained at a press conference that five river watchmen will be hired to spot visible signs of pollution and to act as a deterrent.

In addition, a technological platform will be created to collect all available information on water quality in the Tagus River and will contract boats and other resources to analyse river water during episodes of pollution and under normal conditions.

In January this year, a thick layer of foam appeared across the surface of the Tagus, about 140 kilometres up-river from Lisbon.

This, according to the government, ‘triggered alarms’ over the pollution levels of the river.

The Portuguese Executive then decided to restrict the discharges from pulp producer Celtejo, while it started to remove, at a €1 million cost to taxpayers, the sediments deposited in the bottom of the river.

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