Staff reporter
THE head of the municipal water and rubbish collection company, Emaya, will have to appear in court in Palma on 20 October as a witness in a Public Prosecution case. An alleged crime against the environment has been committed at the company's water treatment plant, when untreated waste water was discharged into Ciutat Jardí bay. The case brought against Emaya by Adrián Salazar, an Environment Department official, will be heard in Palma's Number 10 Court. According to legal sources, although initial paperwork for the case is already in place, the hearing will be long and drawn out because many scientific tests will have to be undertaken. Apart from having to make a court appearance, the head of Emaya will also have to hand over all documentation pertaining to the management and upkeep of the Edar water treatment plant. Additionally, the court has asked the Balearic Ministry of Environment to hand over all the files it possesses on the maintenance of the said water treatment plant. The case has been brought to bear by the Public Prosecutor after studying documentation presented by the Majorcan Socialist Party. It has made investigations, backed up by underwater video recordings and photographs, into the state of the water processed by the Edar treatment plant in Palma and later discharged into the sea through the Gross Torrent (water course). Over a 15 month period, investigators who were collaborating with the nationalist political party made repeated analyses of the water drawn from the Ciutat Jardí area. There are specific guidelines about the purity of water that can be charged into the sea from treatment plants and according to the results of the investigation, levels seriously exceeded safety guidelines. The Public Prosecutor has incorporated this evidence from the Majorcan Socialist Party into the case to be brought against Emaya. Nevertheless, the court will arrange for its own analysis on the state of the water to be made.
Municipal water company charged with pollution