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Date Published: 15/09/2022

ARCHIVED - Ecologists in Action say new Cartagena port project will harm dolphins and whales

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The enlargement of Escombreras dock will cause more pollution and put Cabo Tiñoso in danger, they say

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Ecologists in Action say new Cartagena port project will harm dolphins and whales

The environmental campaign group Ecologists in Action have utterly rejected the Barlomar project, an initiative from the Port Authority of Cartagena (APC) to extend the Escombreras dock, which they have branded as “megalomaniac”.

The organisation has presented a document of allegations to the Master Plan after it was opened up to public consultation, condemning “the environmental impacts it would have on the marine environment”.

They allege that the marine protected areas of Isla de las Palomas and Cabo Tiñoso could be affected, since according to a recent study by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) commissioned by the APC, “the extension of the dock will affect and cause dispersion of pollutants towards the Posidonia oceanica meadows and other biological communities in the area, which currently enjoy a very good state of conservation”.

What’s more, the poor health of the marine environment will get much worse “if maritime traffic in the area increases, which will also affect dolphin populations and cetacean migration routes,” they say.

The project, according to Ecologists in Action, will also affect the site of community importance and special area of conservation (SAC) Valles Submarinos del Escarpe de Mazarrón, as “the increased influx of ships from other countries will increase the potential risk of the introduction and dispersal of invasive species, as almost any type of organism can be transferred in ships where water is transported from one ecosystem to another, as is the case with ballast water”.

Contamination due to dangerous chemicals

Chemical pollution is another of the main threats to the Bay of Cartagena, and one that worries the organisation, “but the Master Plan does not establish a real analysis of its environmental situation, although there are studies that have evaluated this type of pollution in this marine area”.

In this sense, they pointed out that “the high levels of cadmium, mercury and lead in wild mussels in this area have led to it being considered a black spot for metal pollution in the Mediterranean Sea”.

In the Escombreras dock, during the three-year period 2019-2021, the legal limits of PM10 particles were exceeded, mainly due to the movement and storage in the open air of solid bulk, predominant merchandise in the Port of Cartagena, a fact that the ecologists fear will worsen with the extension of the dock.

At the same time, the organisation has also criticised the proposal put forward in the Master Plan for the extraction of resources, which consists of opening a quarry on the Cerro de La Campana. According to Ecologists in Action, this would result in “a severe and non-reversible environmental impact, together with the effects on habitats of community interest, priority habitats and archaeological and paleontological elements, as well as other autochthonous species of Cartagena.”

The Port of Cartagena opened the Barlomar Master Plan up for public consultation at the end of July and some groups asked for an extension to present their allegations beyond August 31. The Port Authority assured yesterday that the allegations of the entities consulted, including Ecologists in Action, “will be analysed in the document of the strategic environmental assessment”.

Images: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena

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