Landowning company already challenging environmental impact study
SEACLIFF COMPRA E VENDA DE IMÓVEIS, S.A – one of the entities fighting plans for a desalination plant off one of Albufeira’s most iconic beaches – has filed a preliminary injunction with Loulé Administrative Court “with a view to urgently suspending the deadline for the ongoing public consultation on the ‘Algarve Seawater Desalination Plant’ project, promoted by Águas do Algarve S.A. and licensed by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA)”.
The public consultation, which began on July 3, is scheduled to end next Wednesday (July 23), but the complexity and technical volume of the documentation submitted for public scrutiny – more than 15 annexes, hundreds of technical pages, CAD reports and georeferenced maps – “compromises the exercise of the fundamental right of public participation in environmental matters”, says the company.
The request for a preliminary injunction is based on the “risk of serious and irreparable damage to the right of citizens and interested parties to participate, which could render any future challenge to the legality of the procedure pointless if the consultation is closed without a proper technical analysis of the project’s environmental impacts.
“This would irreversibly jeopardise the legitimacy of the subsequent administrative decision- namely the issuing of the Environmental Impact Statement” (or DIA as it is known in this country).
SEACLIFF, through its lawyer, explains that it requested an extension of the public consultation deadline from APA, by email, on July 8 – but has not received a reply.
As the company reiterates, it is totally in opposition to this project, which is why this precautionary measure has now been added to the company’s challenge to the environmental impact statement issued by APA – to be heard by the same administrative court in Loulé.
SEACLIFF’s opposition is backed by several NGOs, local fishermen and several Albufeira-based residents – and its challenge of APA’s DIA is only one of the three court cases currently pending.
The thrust of arguments against this project is that it will not solve the Algarve’s issues with water scarcity – but it will cause devastating environmental impacts, on land and sea, as well as impact negatively on tourism and fishing.
For a run-down of SEACLIFF’s arguments, click here.
In the meantime, the 20-day exercise in public participation into this complex project where costs have more than doubled since it was first mooted (last estimate being over €108 million) is still running.
