ARCHIVED - Four illegal water treatment plants in the Campo de Cartagena closed down during March Interpol campaign
Discarded water from the equipment contained up to three times the legal limit of nitrates
The participation of Spain’s Guardia Civil in this year’s Interpol campaign to clamp down on environmental crime has resulted in the arrests of 69 people throughout the country in relation with a variety of offences, including four in the Region of Murcia, all of them concerned with illegal water desalination equipment which was responsible for brackish water being dumped and eventually making its way into the Mar Menor.
All four of the water treatment operations have been closed down, and it has been established that the agricultural concerns responsible for them were also using illegal means of extracting water, mostly unauthorized wells and boreholes. During the Guardia investigations various samples were taken to show that the water discarded contained levels of nitrate up to three times higher than the legally permitted maximum, providing further evidence that the deterioration in the marine environment of the Mar Menor is related to the contamination of the aquifers which feed the lagoon.
Interpol’s worldwide 30 Days at Sea 3.0 campaign during March saw simultaneous action by 300 agencies across 67 countries resulting in an unprecedented 34,000 inspections at sea and inland waterways, coastal areas and ports to detect marine pollution violations. Preliminary results from the operation’s tactical phase included the detection of 1,600 marine pollution offences, often triggering fines and follow-up investigations across all continents. These include not only illegal discharges of sewage, mercury, plastics, and other contaminants, but also 1,000 pollution offences in coastal areas and in rivers and 130 cases of waste trafficking through ports.
In Spain the Guardia Civil carried out a total of 1,170 actions, including 322 inspections of boats and ships, 503 in ports, 190 on land and 144 at sea.