The new Greenpeace España report, 'Destruccion a Toda Costa' (Destruction at all Co(a)st), lists eighteen coastal black spots in all of Andalucia a third of which are in Almeria. Andalucia has 817 km. of coast of which 200 are Almerian. The six black spots are; the Cabo de Gata natural park listed for the apparently uncontrolled construction in an area protected due to its being a habitat unique in Europe, Carboneras listed for being home to a coal powered fire station responsible for a third of all of Andalucia's CO2 emissions as well as other pollutants, Carboneras again for the enormous EL Agarrobico hotel built right on the beach, Mojacar for the Playa Macenas development which has destroyed a virgin beach and the valley behind it, Garrucha for the construction of the Marina which, according to Greepeace, will cause the disappearance of the Vera beach and finally Villaricos for the contamination from the DSM-Deretil chemical factory.
The DSM-Deretil plant in Villaricos, which mainly produces antibiotics, releases into the sea every year 231,000 kg. of organic carbon compounds, 6,440 kg. of halogenated carbon compounds, 57,900 kg. of phosphorous, 527,000 kg. of nitrogen and 416kg. of zinc and related compounds. They have also released 37 tonnes of trichloromethane (commonly known as chloroform) into the atmosphere in the last three years, 7.5 per cent of the total emissions of this substance in the whole of Europe. Trichloromethane has been determined by the American Environmental Protection Agency to be 'probably' carcinogenic in humans. All of these emissions are legal and declared by the company. These figures are matched and in some cases surpassed by the emissions of the power generating plant next to the factory which adds benzene, toluene, and xylene to the cocktail pumped into the sea. But not to worry as the company has plans to move to China where the environmental legislation is less strict.
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