The Sediments association and seven environmental entities have ratified this Monday morning in the Amposta court the complaint filed last October against Endesa and the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE) for an alleged crime against collective security, catastrophic risk in the management of the Riba-roja reservoir.
They argue that the company that manages the dam does not really know if the bottom drains are operational and, therefore, water could not be circulated in case of emergency.
They also warn that it would be compromising the safety of the thousands of inhabitants, municipalities and downstream users of the reservoir. Sediments has once again called on the Terres de l’Ebre institutions to join the complaint.
Initially presented on October 17, the complainants returned to the Amposta court to ratify the complaint and reinforce the opening of preliminary proceedings to judicially investigate the case.
As explained by lawyer Isa Castell, from Juristes de les Terres de l’Ebre per les Llibertats, an entity that advises and collaborates with the complainants, the process must lead to the declaration of the complaining entities so that they can concretely present their arguments. Within the framework of the investigation, officials from Endesa and the CHE will also be summoned to testify as defendants.
The president of the Sediments association, Josep Juan, has called for an investigation into whether bottom drains can really be used with water load. He recalled that the company admitted in statements to ACN that the floodgates opened – first on one side and, later, on the other – but without water circulation inside. “We do not know if they are operational or not. There may be a sediment plug and it cannot circulate. In an emergency case, the bottom drains could not be used and the operation would be compromised,” he stated.
Juan has regretted that the institutions of the Terres de l’Ebre, despite the dangers that this situation could represent for the population, municipalities and downstream users, have not yet gotten involved in requesting a formal investigation of the case. “If civil society is not able to investigate this, we have an undemocratic society, in which there is no transparency when it comes to knowing what happens in these dams.”
He also recalled the “nonsense” that the reservoirs continue to retain the sediments that the Delta needs – a case that has been reported to the Prosecutor’s Office for an alleged case of “environmental crime” – as well as “the fact that the Flix hydroelectric plant is operating with the concession expired after 75 years”, which <-as he said: could be the subject of new judicial action by the entity.
