Hundreds of intensive pig farms in the Mercia region of southeastern Spain will play a leading role in the destruction of one of Europe’s largest marine lagoons, the Mar Menor.
A four-month investigation by Spanish newspaper reporters “elDiario” e “La Mareapela”together with “Reports from the lighthouse” , a Holland-based non-profit news organization with sophisticated transnational investigations, analyzed the role that intensive pig production could have played in one of Spain’s worst environmental disasters in recent years. And it was concluded that the impact of pollution from pig farming may have been greater than what has so far been publicly admitted.
The case sparked public interest when residents of the Mercia region warned last August that dead fish, shellfish and crustaceans had begun to appear on the shores of the Mar Menor lagoon.
In just a few days, the amount of rotting carcasses scattered on the beaches that were once a major attraction has grown to over five tons. And while the Spanish press was filled with images of the lake’s muddy waters and local complaints about the sickening smell, scientists blamed the decades for nitrate-laden floods that triggered algal blooms that eventually depleted the water, causing the fish to suffocate. …
This summer, as dead fish continued to arrive on the shores of the Mar Menor, the regional government banned the use of fertilizers less than 1.5 km from the lagoon, suggesting that the environmental crisis could be related to the extensive agricultural land in the vicinity. pond. And the central government even accused the local authorities of neglecting the irrigation of the fields.
But none of the executives mentioned the pig farms that have increased over the past decade in the Mar Menor watershed, although a 2019 report from the Ministry of the Environment already said that in these areas (which then had about 800,000 animals)), it could be 17% nitrogen in the Mar Menor aquifer (a formation or group of geological formations that can store groundwater).
The results of a new investigation, which collected drones and satellite images of the area in September, showing pig droppings dropped nearby or stored in large holes in the ground, are consistent with this report.
When visiting 10% of the manure barns in the Mar Menor basin, more than 90% did not comply with the rules requiring the storage of pig waste in sealed watertight tanks. “Serious flaws were found in animal waste storage facilities … virtually no waterproofing, which allows waste to seep directly into the soil and pollute the aquifer,” the authors say, pointing the finger at local and national authorities for not taking position on the report for 2019.
The study considers it “clear” that the main source of pollution is intensive agriculture in the Mar Menor basin, but highlights the role of 450 pig farms in the service area, “which no one talks about,” said Maria Jimenez Casalduero, a former professor. at the University of Mercia and the Podemos representative at the Regional Assembly of Mercia. “It’s as if we were giving amnesty to pig farming.”
