Portmán regeneration project progressing well

Half of Portmán Bay will be recovered from under millions of tons of mining waste

At a time when environmental issues are at the forefront of the news in Murcia, due mainly to accusations of political involvement in the contamination of the Mar Menor and the problems caused by the on-going drought, the central government delegate to the Region highlighted a more satisfactory story on Thursday regarding the Bay of Portmán in the municipality of La Unión.

For decades mining companies in the Sierra Minera dumped unwanted substances into the bay, until by the 1980s it had become just one large landfill site containing steriles. The harmful substances included carbonates and sulphides of lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, arsenic, iron oxides, aluminum, zinc and calcium, and compounds used in the treatment of flotation such as sodium cyanide, sulphuric acid, xanthates and copper sulphate.

For many years after the mines closed down nothing was done to repair the damage done in Portmán, but now, due in no small part to the efforts of former Mayor of La Unión Francisco Bernabé, a regeneration project is under way which will result in approximately half of the bay being recovered.

Having resigned as Mayor in 2014 when he was made a minister in the regional government, Sr Bernabé then became an MP in the national parliament and now occupies the post of central government delegate to Murcia, so when he attended the second meeting of the committee set up to monitor progress in the regeneration project on Thursday it was with special interest and a deep background knowledge of the problems in Portmán. During the committee meeting he was pleased to underline the fact that due to a government investment of over 6 million euros over the last year the removal of sterile substances is progressing at a healthy rate.

One of the pits into which steriles will be placed for drying is already complete, he reports, and work is under way on the other two, while another imminent step will be reinforcement work on the spit of sand which stands between the area where work is being carried out and the Mediterranean. This is needed to avoid problems in times of bad weather and high waves, and is part of a project which is budgeted to cost a total of 32 million euros.

At a time when efforts are being made to point the finger of blame at those who may have been responsible for the contamination over a period of decades of the Mar Menor, it is interesting to reflect the fact that despite the national government being direct accessories to the annihilation of the Bay of Portmán, both during Franco’s dictatorship and after the restoration of democracy, no-one was ever prosecuted.

For more local news, events and other information go to the Portmán section of Murcia Today.

Image: Sr Bernabé during a visit to the work in Portmán in April of this year

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