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Date Published: 27/01/2022
ARCHIVED - Mar Menor legal case takes a turn as over 40 agricultural companies are prosecuted
Some of the criminal cases have been handed over to San Javier and Cartagena courts
The judge in charge of the so-called ‘Caso Topillo’ legal case, in which individuals and companies are being prosecuted for their part in polluting or neglecting to stop pollution of the Mar Menor lagoon, has decided to divide a portion of the case into 39 different pieces, which will be judged in the courts of Murcia, San Javier and Cartagena.
For several years now, the Mar Menor has seen its ecosystem ravaged by nitrates running off from agricultural irrigation and intensive pig farming and legal action is finally being taken against those responsible, including senior officials in the Region of Murcia.
Back in December 2021, the Provincial Court in Murcia blocked the Court of Instruction number 2 from taking action against 43 companies as it lacked “jurisdiction”. This led the head of the Court of Instruction number 2 of Murcia, Ángel Garrote, to determine that the contamination of the lagoon is the result of multiple individual crimes which are unrelated and, therefore, the legal prosecution should be treated as several different cases in different courts.
Of the 39 legal proceedings, 22 will be taken on by San Javier’s courts and 14 will be dealt with in Cartagena while the Murcia courts deal with the three remaining cases in Avileses, Sucina and Murcia city.
Over 40 agricultural companies in the Campo de Cartagena whose private and illegal desalination plants were used to extract water from the aquifer and then dump salt and nitrates into a network of pipes which end in the Mar Menor are going to be prosecuted for their crimes. The company that allegedly provided farmers with these desalination machines and consumables without the required authorisation is also being prosecuted.
All of the above proceedings were initiated by a complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office in December 2017, in which senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Segura Hydrographic Confederation, were also accused of contributing to the contamination of the Mar Menor.
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