The Minister of Environment and Energy Transition said that the airport planned for the Montijo Air Force base, "does not require a Strategic Environmental Assessment."
This is contrary to informed opinion of the environmental association, Zero, which says that an assessment is required when deciding when there is a choice of locations.
"I know that Zero has filed a precautionary measure requiring a Strategic Environmental Assessment, but an SEA is not required in a case such as this," said Minister, João Matos Fernandes.
“From the moment one knows the location, what is needed is an environmental impact study for that project, an environmental impact assessment that is not strategic as it’s for that particular project," said Fernandes.
Carla Graça of Zero says that a court summons, demanding that the Portuguese Environmental Agency provides information, soon will filed in the Portuguese courts, as will the insistence that a Strategic Environmental Assessment is carried out.
"After these steps we will file a lawsuit, not an injunction, in order to oblige the State, the administration, to carry out a strategic impact assessment, regarding the airport process," added Graça.
Prime Minister, António Costa, already has stated that an environmental impact study was expected but the airport plan was "irreversible" as there is a national consensus that Montijo is the location for the Lisbon overflow airport.
The Secretary of State for Infrastructures, "after some insistence, stated that an environmental impact assessment was in progress," said Carla Graça who added that Zero had informed the Portuguese Environmental Agency that both national and European legislation imply that a decision on the airport requires a full Strategic Environmental Assessment rather than just an Environmental Impact Assessment."
"We will resort to judicial channels through a subpoena to provide information, which we have requested several times and were not given, and will make a request for a Strategic Impact Assessment," summarised the environmentalist.
