Download Lessons to be learned from the toxic spills in Andalucia

Agenda Item 4
SIME 99/4/11-E (L)
Original: English
English only
OSPAR CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT OF THE
NORTH-EAST ATLANTIC
MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP ON CONCENTRATIONS, TRENDS AND EFFECTS
OF SUBSTANCES IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT (SIME)
DUBLIN: 22 – 26 FEBRUARY 1999
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Lessons to be learned from the toxic spills in Andalucia
Presented by World Wide Fund For Nature
Background
1.
SIME will examine the issue of integrated assessment of input data and data on concentrations in the
marine environment.
2.
It is vital to also consider information on inputs from accidental spills within the scope of such an
assessment strategy. Long-term changes in concentrations of pollutants in the marine environment
associated with such accidental toxic spills should be routinely monitored.
3.
In this context, lessons can be learned from two disastrous spills which recently occurred at lagoons
of mining and/or fertilizer companies in southern Spain: on 25 April 1998, the Coto Doñana nature
reserve and the river Guadiamar were heavily affected. On 31 December 1998, another spill polluted
Rio Tinto – see WWF News Release at Annex 1.
4.
The impact of these two spills on adjacent coastal and marine waters within the OSPAR Maritime
Area has not been clarified yet.
Action requested
5.
SIME is invited to collect, evaluate and compare the input data (Guadiamar; Rio Tinto) with data on
concentrations in the marine environment at the Andalucian coast. The Spanish delegation may wish
to assist in this exercise. WWF is prepared to provide additional information.
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OSPAR Commission
SIME 99/4/11-E (L)
Annex 1
Wednesday, 6 January 1999
Dark New Year for Southern Spanish Nature
Release of toxics was predictable and preventable, says WWF
Brussels, Belgium - Local controls and European Union laws failed once more when a dam broke in
southern Spain and thousands of cubic metres of toxic acid were released into the sea, said WWF today.
In the night from 31 December 1998 to 1 January 1999, an acid water lagoon broke near the city of Huelva
in southern Spain, releasing a cocktail of heavy metals.
50 km west of the famous nature reserve Coto Doñana, the Rio Tinto flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The
river borders important nature reserves and an important industrial area. There the two Spanish companies
Fertiberia and Foret produce artificial fertilizer - and a daily waste of 10.000 cubic metres acid effluent,
including sulphuric acid, fluorine, iron, cadmium, chromium and arsenic. This is being discharged into a 70
hectare waste lagoon with a storage capacity of about 1.000.000 cubic metres. The lagoon is very close to the
sea and the dam was eroded by 4 metre high waves in a storm, so releasing its contents. Operators are
working on the dam, and the firms have stopped their production. Fertiberia denied having neglected the
lagoon "which had been designed in the USA".
“This incident is similar to the tragic event affecting Coto Doñana last April in that it was predictable and
preventable”, says Jane Madgwick, WWF’s European Freshwater coordinator. “European laws and
regulations controlling these storage lagoons are painfully weak, and ever and ever again the lagoons are
built in environmentally sensitive areas. It seems likely that the siting, construction, maintenance and
monitoring of the storage lagoon has been inadequate here - as in the case of the tailings lagoon at
Aznalcóllar.”***)
The Andalucian government had promoted the development of this new, large storage lagoon as an
environmental solution to the previous problems of leaching of these toxics to the river system. A local
environment group, "Ecologistas en Acción", had advised several times on the risks of that lagoon. Now,
official sources say that 50.000 m3 flowed into the ocean while EA says it was more than 500.000 m3
Although there is no official report on the environmental damage, there are likely to be immediate effects of
the acid water on fish and longer term effects of the heavy metals which can accumulate in humans and sea
life through the food chain. International commitments made through the OSPAR Convention aim to stop
chemical pollution of the Atlantic.
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***) On 25 April 1998, a storage dam at the Aznalcóllar mine (Andalucia, Spain) broke releasing toxic
sludge. The mine produces zinc-, lead- and copper-concentrates and is owned by the Swedish-Canadian
company Boliden Apirsa. Arsenic, cadmium, thallium and other metals are also present in lower
concentrations. According to information of Boliden-Apirsa, 3 mio. tonnes of sludge and 4 mio. m3 acidic
water were discharged. The spill covered approximately 5,000 ha including parts of the Doñana protected
area. This is one of the largest protected areas in the EU, and a Ramsar and World Heritage Site. It is
recognized as a special area of conservation under the EU Habitats Directive. The toxic spill also affected the
Guadiamar river.
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OSPAR Commission
SIME 99/4/11-E (L)