• The collapse of thousands of tons of industrial waste on February 6 buried Alberto Sololuze and Joaquín Beltrán, two workers whose bodies have not yet been located.
The Popular Parliamentary Group has presented a battery of questions in Congress for the Government to explain what actions it plans to take after learning that the European Commission will continue to investigate the case of the collapse of the Zaldívar landfill after having detected serious deficiencies in its operation, which caused a landslide on February 6 that keeps two workers, Joaquín Beltrán and Alberto Sololuze, whose bodies have not yet been located, buried.
In the explanatory memorandum of the initiative, signed by the deputy for Vizcaya Beatriz Álvarez Fanjul, along with the also deputies of the GPP Paloma Gásquez and César Sánchez, it is highlighted that on May 13 (in response to the popular speaker in Parliament European Commission, Dolors Monserrat, and MEP Javier Zarzalejos), the European Commission assured that there were “important deficiencies” in the operation of the Zaldívar landfill in Bizkaia and that the “competent authorities” (the Basque Government) “should have detected, monitored and, in last instance, sanctioned ”.
In addition, from Brussels it has been pointed out that in the face of "the alleged situation of non-compliance in which the landfill was located" with respect to the EU directives on environmental matters, and "in view of the seriousness of the case", it will continue to examine and contact the competent bodies to guarantee “adequate reparation for damages”, both by national and regional authorities, which are responsible for applying EU legislation in this area.
The questions to the Government from the GPP are the following:
– Has the Government of Spain analyzed the degree of compliance in the implementation of European legislation on landfills and hazardous waste?
– If yes, what has been the result of your analysis? Has the Government of Spain detected the non-compliance referred to by the Commission?
– If not, are you concerned about the non-compliance to which the Commission refers? Do you plan to carry out an analysis of the situation in Spain?
– Has the Government of Spain held talks with the European institutions about the incident that occurred in the Zaldívar landfill?
– If yes, how many have there been? Who has been the interlocutor? What conclusions does the Government of Spain draw from them?
– Does the Spanish Government consider, as does the European Commission, that these facilities should have been better detected and monitored?
