La cementera Lafarge ubicada en Montcada llega a su fin tras serio revés legal
[English below]
La agrupación ciudadana que ha luchado largamente contra la cementera y los estragos ambientales que la incineración de residuos utilizada para su funcionamiento ha provocado en la comunidad tiene un estrecho vínculo con las organizaciones latinoamericanas que luchan contra las cementeras en la región.
Más detalles aquí
“En la cementera se quema de todo, desde basura urbana –plásticos y otros restos– a lodos que provienen de las depuradoras, pasando por neumático–que contienen metales traza, como arsénico y mercurio–“, denuncia. Además de la las emisiones, Conejero critica que “muchos de los productos que allí se incineran, deberían ser reciclados”. José Luis Conejero, portavoz de la asociación de vecinos del barrio de Can Sant Joan de Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona). Ver más
Image caption: Participating organizations during the Second International Meeting against Incineration and for Zero Waste in 2015 came together to protest in front of the cement company Lafarge.
The citizen group that has fought widely against the cement company and the environmental damages that the incineration of waste has caused in the community, has a strong link to the Latin American organizations that fight against the cement companies in the area.
The cement company that operates in Montcada i Reixac that is less than 120 meters of the populated area, suffered a serious legal setback that led to the Superior Tribunal of Justice of Cataluña taking away the environmental authorization it had given Generalitat in 2015, and now considers it null.
The failure emphasizes how the nullity is due to how the original authorization was based on an environmental impact report from 2008 that is now completely obsolete. The tribunal also revoked the company’s lawsuit to renew its license. Before the ruling, the mayor has asked “from the City Council we implore Generalitat to stop the activity at Lafarge and to explain in detail what they will do to comply with the sentence.” More details here.
The link between GAIA globally and GAIA in LAC in particular has been long-standing with the Neighbor Group of the Can Sant Joan barrio and the Anti-incineration Platform (Plataforma Antiincineración), who for years have pushed forward the movement against cement companies that incinerate waste. Not stopping with the enormous work that this has taken, they have been generously and permanently a part of diverse spaces that are fighting against incineration in Latin America, sharing their experience and lessons, given the large battle in their region and that now bring us joy with their hopeful news.
Image caption #2: International march in the streets of the city against the cement company Lafarge
We leave you with a memory from the Second International Meeting against Incineration and for Zero Waste that was organized by this group and that various members of GAIA in Latin America were invited to in 2015. Our most sincere congratulations for this achievement in the words of the lawyer of the neighborhood collective Albert Calduch, finalized a long administrative process initiated by a series of irregularities and illegalities linked to activity by the company Lafarge.
“In the cement facility, everything is burned, from urban trash—plastic and other residues— to muds that come from the sewage treatment plants, passing as tires that contain trace metals such as arsenic and mercury,” he reported. In addition to the emissions, Conejero critiques that “much of the products that are incinerated there, should be recycled,” José Luis Conejero, the spokesman for the association of neighbors for the Can Sant Joan neighborhood of Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona). See more
Check the press conference here