Fª Alentejo: Olive-cake factory in Strong generates controversy
Complaints of the public about pollution of Strong Olive-cake factory, It takes authority to complain to the authorities responsible for the sector.
The Municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo, He issued a statement which conveys that from the first moment they came into contact with "the complaints of the population", who "expressed" by the competent authorities for the licensing and supervision of the exercise of industrial activity in question, his "concern and will" in the situation that corrective action be taken.
In the document the local authority justifies already "put the issue to the competent authorities", namely, and head of the Regional Directorate of Alentejo Economy, entity licensing coordinator, but also to the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development, Portuguese Agency for the Environment I.P., Commission of Coordination and Regional Development and the Alentejo Regional Agriculture and Fisheries.
In conclusion the City Council justifies "waiting for resolution" of the exposed situation.
The plant was built in the late 60 to transform tomato under the name Consol. She came to bankruptcy and a few decades after the factory was converted to work in olive derivatives with the name of Tomsil. Now the factory is operated by a company based in Santa Maria da Feira.
The Público newspaper visited the Strong and collected some interesting data
It is the resulting new environmental reality of intensive olive grove row and superintensive produced in the area under the influence of Alqueva. A source from the White Alcides company said the newspaper that the olive-pomace volume produced in the new oil mills installed in the Beja region hits 600 thousand tons. This is a waste which can not be landfilled.
The appeal is to transform an organic matter containing water, oil and biomass burning material. This requires turning it in the three units that currently exist in Alvito, Odivelas (na photos, but which has no connection with the company accused of being the author of pollution) and Strong, the latter two located in Ferreira do Alentejo county.
Furthermore, carry the olive pomace mills for the three processing plants means an average traffic 24 thousand trucks with a capacity of 25 tonnes each. The environmental consequences that derive from the activity are already being felt in the pollution of water courses.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
