The Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) has sent to the Generalitat Valenciana a proposal to analyze for a year the sludge impact dumped on the Rambla del Poyo and the transfer of its pollutants to the Albufera Natural Park after the catastrophic DANA of October 29 in Valencia.
To do this, researchers from the state agency will have to sectorize the two areas and carry out an evaluation of microbiological and physicochemical parameters with the aim of “identifying possible risks for the environment and public health, as well as than to propose appropriate management measures which minimize. » the impact of waste dumped on the Rambla del Poyo on the protected natural area.
Sludge from both urban wastewater and contaminated runoff, which received no treatment faced with the emergency situation which led to its withdrawal.
The document, consulted by ABC, describes the work plan, but does not specify who must assume the cost of materials, labor and phenotypic and molecular analyzes for a volume of one thousand samples: 320,000 euros excluding taxes included.
This Monday, the regional executive led by Carlos Mazón accused the central government of having asked for such a large sum to start the project. “It is an insult to the Valencians that Pedro Sánchez demands to be paid earlier to help us in this important task of analyzing the sludge brought by the flood. Is this the cooperation with the Generalitat that you talk about so much? A curious cooperation and against payment of the amount. Sánchez’s help comes at a price,” say presidential sources.
However, the CSIC – attached to the Ministry of Science led by Diana Morant, leader of the Valencian socialists – rejects the version of the Mazón team in a press release. They ensure that the public body “does not charge the Generalitat Valenciana or any other administration for the advisory work it provides to emergency managers derived from DANA, for which it assumes all of the costs. This is what they did, they recall as an example, during the eruption of the La Palma volcano in 2021.
“The CSIC covered the travel costs of the oceanographic vessel Ramón Margalef to the coast of Valencia (worth more than 300,000 euros), as well as the work to overhaul the infrastructure of the municipalities affected by the flooding, among other actions carried out in relation to DANA. The CSIC is currently designing measures for the study and management of the sludge generated by DANA with a budget estimated at 900,000 euros, a cost that it will assume, once again, in full”, concludes the letter sent to the media.
Focus on the waters of the Albufera
The experts’ proposal focuses above all on the devastating effects that mud can have in the Albufera Natural Park. “The accumulation of nutrients, such as nitrates and phosphates, could trigger eutrophication processes, altering aquatic communities and decrease in water quality. Likewise, the possible presence of emerging contaminants, including drug residues and pathogenic microorganisms, could represent a risk for the species that inhabit this environment and for human activities, such as fishing, agriculture and sustainable tourism “, they indicate.
“The Albufera plays a crucial role in water regulation and as a habitat for many migratory and endemic bird species. Thus, any alteration of water quality has a direct impact not only on local biodiversity, but also on the ecosystem services that the natural park provides to surrounding communities. In this sense, the analysis of microbiological parameters is particularly relevant, since it will make it possible to evaluate the presence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) and resistance genes (ARG), a emerging problem of global concern “which could be aggravated in contaminated aquatic environments”, they argue.
