ARCHIVED - San Javier farmer faces charges over hidden desalination bunker which dumped contaminants
Contaminants were being dumped into the Campo de Cartagena aquifer and from there into the Mar Menor
While the debate continues over what measures should be implemented to regenerate and protect the marine environment of the Mar Menor, more cases continue to emerge of crop farmers disposing of harmful waste water in such a way that it will eventually find its way into the lagoon.
The latest example concerns a farmer in the municipality of San Javier who faces charges related to crimes against natural resources and the environment, after being found by the Guardia Civil and the CHS water infrastructures administration body to have been extracting water from the aquifer below the Campo de Cartagena and subsequently disposing of wastewater back into the aquifer.
The investigation by the Seprona wildlife protection wing of the Guardia began last year after the CHS found desalination equipment and an underground water storage tank at the agricultural concern in the rural district of San Cayetano. The water in the tank was analysed and found to be a source of contamination, and in addition the tank had not been fully waterproofed, resulting in water returning directly to the aquifer.
An unauthorized borehole was also discovered, hidden beneath shrubs, a layer of earth, plastic sheeting and a metal plate, fully equipped with an extraction pump connected to a generator.
Similar lengths had been gone to in an effort to conceal the desalination equipment, which was found in a bunker measuring 6 metres by 2 metres. In order to reach it officers had to lift up a wooden pallet and various branches, remove a metal plate, enter a manhole and then open a second door leading to the machinery.
The equipment was immediately taken out of use and the case is now in the hands of the courts of San Javier.