Ecologists ask the Prosecutor's Office to investigate the fall of wagons in the Sil and warn of the possible presence of toxic substances

The environmental association Adega has asked the Prosecutor's Office to open an investigation for an alleged crime against natural resources and the environment due to the intervention of the Administrator of Railway Infrastructures ( Adif ) to remove derailed wagons from the train track in Carballeda de Valdeorras ( Orense) last Sunday. One of them ended up in the river and another overturned on the embankment between the tracks and the watercourse.

The large tonnage structure "is made up of metals of various kinds" and "could contain materials or substances that are very dangerous to the aquatic ecosystem , such as asbestos." In addition to this, the wagon alters "the morphology of the riverbed and the natural dynamics of the river" and "could constitute a high risk for the safety of people and the infrastructures that are downstream".

Although the wagon had no load, as Adif has indicated, the environmental association has highlighted that oils, hydrocarbons and lubricating fluids of the gears "can contaminate the waters" and affect the flora and fauna of the environment and also put "at risk "public health.

In the images "it can already be seen", as Adega explained, that the riverside vegetation is "visibly affected" by the abrupt fall of the car down the slope. Its impact, she added, could have generated "a serious impact on the riverside fauna" that is usually sheltered on the banks of the rivers.

The images show how an excavator machine pushes the two cars and one of them slides along the embankment, while the other is overturned on the slope next to the track. The videos that show him have gone viral, Adega said, "due to the shocking and disconcerting nature" of what you see, which is "typical of other times when rivers were considered landfills."

WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION

According to the association, these events "contravene the entire regulatory framework in force" in environmental, waste, hydrological planning and water protection matters. In addition, actions in the public hydraulic domain require prior authorization from the body responsible for the basin, especially "in the case of high-risk actions" for people and the environment.

"It seems that the public company skipped the entire regulatory framework and legal administrative procedure to proceed 'by the braves', in an improvised way and without measuring the consequences on the environment," said Adega, who considers that this may be "an infringement very serious "done" on purpose or knowing that it could cause serious harm ".

Responsible for the Miño-Sil Hydrographic Confederation indicated that the agency had already warned Adif that it would not allow the derailed wagons to be overturned on the Sil, something that "did not prevent the railway entity from continuing with its plans," the environmental organization has criticized.

In addition to requesting that the Prosecutor's Office investigate if there is a crime, Adega calls on the Ministry of Transportation to "settle responsibilities" and the Miño-Sil Hydrographic Confederation to open "the appropriate sanctioning file and urge the Prosecutor's Office to act."

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