The European Court of Justice condemns Spain for the contamination of water with agricultural and livestock waste.

The judges ruled that the country has not done enough to curb the excess of nitrates in the water and has therefore failed to comply with the regulations.

More than 200,000 people have tap water contaminated by agricultural and livestock wastes

The European Court of Justice has condemned Spain for the pollution of its waters with agricultural and livestock waste. The magistrates reproached Spain for not having taken the necessary measures to put an end to the problem and for not having reinforced the actions against this pollution. The The European Commission decided to bring Spain before the European magistrates in December 2022 for the “deficient” response to the excess of nitrates in groundwater in particular. These nitrates get there after having been applied as fertilizers on crops and by livestock waste, especially by the large production of manure from the pig sector. Now, the Court has decided that Spain has failed to comply with the Water Quality Law by not implementing all the mandatory measures in Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Madrid, in addition to not applying reinforced actions in the first three communities mentioned above plus the Region of Murcia. It is also considered that the regulations have not been complied with by not acting sufficiently to remedy the generalized eutrophication of water throughout the country, that is, the excess of nutrients added to the water (which are fertilizers and waste) which cause certain microorganisms to proliferate and destroy aquatic ecosystems. In addition, the Court has declared that the obligation to declare eight measuring points distributed throughout the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and the Community of Madrid as vulnerable zones to this type of pollution – which implies the adoption of certain measures in these areas – has been breached. However, the magistrates point out that the four areas of the Balearic Islands and the three areas of Valencia have already been declared vulnerable, although at a later date than the complaint. The Community of Madrid is still pending. The case thus culminates with a sentence against the country after the whole process of sanctioning the European Union itself. Brussels warned Spain for the first time that the excess of these nitrates were a problem in November 2018 with a letter of formal notice. Failing to see the situation addressed, the Commission insisted by means of a a reasoned opinion in December 2020. This opinion acts as an ultimatum before referring the complaint to the Court. The fact is that the application of fertilizers – plus the leaching of livestock slurry – to crops to promote intensive production discharges some 800,000 tons of nitrates into the natural environment. All this nitrate ends up polluting the water. In fact, in 2022, more than 200,000 people were unable to drink the tap water in their homes because of excess nitrates.

Source:

https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/justicia-europea-condena-espana-contaminacion-agua-restos-agricultura-ganaderia_1_11212210.html