Island sewage pipe project warning

THE PROJECT to reform Tabarca island’s sanitation system by installing a pipeline to carry wastewater for treatment on the mainland has proved unpopular with ecologists.

Talaiola, a Santa Polabased branch of the NGO Ecologístas en Acción has called on the regional government to suspend the project, warning it could have serious consequences for seagrass prairies.

“This plan is based on a false premise that there is no alternative to building a pipeline to treat the wastewater off the island,” according to one of their members, Alfons Baile.

He claimed there has been a lack of political will to explore the alternative to this solution. Since the project was designed 20 years ago, many things have happened to make us reconsider how we treat the environment, assured Carlos Arriba of the Alicante province branch of the NGO. He said wastewater should be treated on the island, ‘but first the unsustainable current model of tourist management for Tabarca has to be reconsidered’.

Ecologistas en Acción noted that the environmental impact declaration for the project has expired, as it was granted in 2011 and is only legally valid for six years.

“This is more than enough reason to consider taking legal action if the project is not provisionally suspended,” they warned.

The ecologists also said the regional government is waiting to approve its legislation to conserve seagrass. A few months ago the NGO presented objections to the draft text, arguing that an official body should be set up, which is open to social participation, to evaluate and supervise any projects likely to have an impact on seagrass.