Ecologists in Action denounces that, once again, in Spain who pollutes does not pay

Ecologists in Action denounces that, once again, in Spain who pollutes does not pay

• The environmental organization denounces that, once again, the European maxim that the polluter pays is not fulfilled in the Spanish State.
• Ecologists in Action points out that the Boliden network avoids paying for its responsibility in the Aznalcóllar ecological disaster thanks to the lax Spanish legislation regarding environmental protection.
• They highlight that this has also happened thanks to the corporate framework that Boliden created to avoid paying compensation or sanctions through the bankruptcy of the front company Boliden Apirsa.

Ecologists in Action points out that avoiding paying for polluting is the “spurious way of operating of the mining sector and of all global extractivism.” Once again, the mining industry evades justice and escapes from paying sanctions and compensation, thanks to the corporate framework with which it was previously provided and the bankruptcy of the shell company. This would not have happened if the Andalusian administration had not allowed the pond to regrowth and had implemented control measures.

The environmental organization warns that this mode of action is currently being carried out by Grupo México. The international mining company intends to reopen the Los Frailes mine in Aznalcóllar also using a conglomerate of companies, through the Spanish shell company Minera Los Frailes, owned in 97% by Grupo México.

In the trial it was established that the Boliden conglomerate received 67 million euros in compensation from insurance companies as a result of the rupture of the rafts. This money was not reverted to decontamination, which is why Ecologistas en Acción emphasizes that it pays off for the Boliden network and the mining companies in general to destroy the planet.

Ecologists in Action demands that the Andalusian and Spanish administrations do not repeat the same mistakes with the reopening of Los Frailes or the Aznalcóllar waste pond.