An expert report from the environmental protection unit of the Civil Guard, Seprona, confirms that the Tersa incinerator, property of Barcelona City Council located between Barcelona and Sant Adrià del Besòs (Barcelonès North), could put at risk the health of the population
The document details that “abnormal working temperatures for waste incineration” have been detected and, therefore, questions the veracity of the heat levels detailed for waste burning between the years 2017 and 2022.
After examining for months the documentation obtained in a search at the incinerator last May, the Civil Guard has drafted a report in which it questions the veracity of the data provided by the company chaired by Eloi Badía, former Councilor for Climate Emergency of the City Council of Barcelona, ??who is currently a deputy in the Congress of Deputies for Sumar.
The Seprona document argues that “it is not possible to ensure that the combustion processes occur in such a way as to ensure the destruction of pollutants.” One of them, dioxins, is a potentially carcinogenic pollutant, and failure to exceed the established temperature threshold would imply a risk of emitting toxic waste to citizens.
The report cites research that supports the claim that people who reside in close proximity to incinerators experience adverse health effects, such as an increase in the incidence of cancer and an increase in cancer-related mortality rates, among other problems. of health.
According to the Civil Guard, the idea that garbage has been incinerated in the factory’s three ovens using extreme temperatures of heat and cold is hardly credible, as Tersa’s records indicate. It is argued that it is implausible that the rejects would have decomposed over such a wide range of temperatures, ranging from 4,000 to 9,900 degrees. He adds that “currently it is not possible to justify the value of temperatures above 2,400 degrees with thermocouples,” industrial meters.
The Airenet neighborhood platform, created with the aim of informing citizens about the environmental pollution caused by industries and service infrastructure located on the coast of Barcelona, ??ensures that the Civil Guard report on the Tersa incinerator accredits its complaints. for more than six years.
They reiterate that “the waste treatment plant manipulates the data on emissions of carcinogenic substances that the Generalitat should control.” The neighborhood platform denounces that “this public incinerator works above the temperatures established by law and puts the health of citizens at risk.” Airenet has appeared as a private prosecutor in the judicial process against Tersa and regrets “the opacity of Tersa”, demanding both the plant and the public administration to “listen to the demands of citizens who feel afraid of the harmful consequences for their health.” ”.
