Spanish authorities investigate industrial waste spills

The Civil Guard's Nature Protection Service (Seprona) is investigating three individuals and a company for illegally discharging highly polluting industrial waste into a stream in Huelva, Spain. The operation, named ‘Oleo’, revealed a hidden system of pumps and pipes used to evacuate alpechín—a highly organic liquid byproduct of olive oil production—from storage ponds. The waste traveled approximately seven kilometers through dry ravines before reaching the Chanza reservoir, a critical infrastructure used primarily for public water consumption.

In a separate matter, the Environmental Prosecutor has filed a complaint in Estepona regarding potential leachate discharges into the Arroyo de Enmedio in Casares. The complaint follows reports from the environmental group Verdemar, which noted reddish, foamy water near a waste treatment facility managed by Urbaser. While investigations were requested earlier this year, the prosecutor moved to file the complaint after failing to receive necessary reports from the Civil Guard to determine criminal responsibility.