The Guadalajara Court acquits all the politicians prosecuted for the Chiloeches fire

The

for crimes against natural resources and the environment

.

and

, which were in charge of the management of hazardous and non-hazardous waste in a treatment plant located in

and which suffered a fire on August 26, 2016.

The macro-cause that was prosecuted in the Provincial Court of Guadalajara between the months of September and December 2021, and for which a sentence has now been issued, began after the fire that occurred in August 2016 in the facilities of the Guadalajara town, which It caused a cloud of toxic smoke and the dumping of waste that was stored in an uncontrolled manner in the treatment plant.

The judgment of the Provincial Court of Guadalajara does not consider it proven that the fire occurred as a result of the industrial activity carried out in the facilities, nor due to the massive and uncontrolled accumulation of waste, although this circumstance favored the spread of the fire and made it difficult to extinguish.

The magistrates point out that the fire was caused intentionally, but without stating the authorship.

The five people sentenced for crimes against the environment, to prison terms between 3 years and six months and four years and two months, are responsible for the companies Kuk Medioambiente SL and Grupo Layna de Residuos SL, as well as a person in charge of waste management company that performed its duties at the Chiloeches treatment plant.

Companies, as legal persons, have also been sentenced to fines of 36,000 euros for the same crime.

They must compensate more than 6 million euros for environmental damage

The five convicted, as well as the two companies, must assume a total compensation of more than 6.1 million euros for the JCCM, the

and the current company that owns the land where the waste treatment plant was located. , for civil liability arising from the risks and damage caused by environmental crime, for the polluting effects produced before and after the fire that occurred in 2016, as well as for the actions necessary to prevent the damage from increasing.

Civil liability derived from extinguishing the fire is not contemplated as this crime has not been proven for those convicted.

According to the proven facts of the judgment of the Provincial Court of Guadalajara, the waste treatment plant owned by Kuk Medioambiente SL had suspended the mandatory

since 2013 , necessary for its operation, and did not have an opening license either. .

The facilities also had significant deficiencies, with contamination of the soil, subsoil and groundwater.

In these circumstances, the company sublet the activity for a year to Grupo Layna Gestión de Residuos SL

During that time of activity of the Layna Group, there was a conscious and voluntary progressive accumulation of waste in the facilities of the Chiloeches plant, and liquid waste was dumped on the adjoining land, producing, in addition, as stated in the judgment , the transfer of waste without any type of control and in an irregular manner destined for landfills.

Once the company Kuk Environment recovered the management of the treatment plant, the accumulation of waste continued without control, until the facilities were closed by resolution of the mayor of Chiloeches in June 2016.

All politicians and technicians are spared

Regarding the seven people prosecuted for the crime of environmental prevarication, the competent authorities of the

, including the Deputy Minister for the Environment of the Government of

,

;

the former mayor of Chiloeches,

, from the PP;

the general director of Environmental Evaluation,

;

the director of Quality and Environmental Impact,

;

the head of the Environmental Quality Control service,

... The Provincial Court of Guadalajara acquitted all of them, despite the fact that the prosecutor asked for sentences of up to five years in prison for some of them.

According to the sentence, there is no evidence that they failed to fulfill their obligations when processing the different applications for the granting of the Integrated Environmental Authorization for the operation of the Kuk Medioambiente facilities in Chiloeches.

There is also no evidence that they ceased to carry out their function of control and monitoring of this Environmental Authorization, nor that there was favorable treatment to benefit the companies now condemned.

Likewise, the Provincial Court understands that the actions of the technicians regarding the resolutions issued in relation to the treatment plant were a simple procedure, without them ruling on the Environmental Authorization of the Chiloeches treatment plant.

As for the actions of the former mayor of Chiloeches, CU, the ruling states that his intervention in reports and agreements related to the activity of the waste treatment plant was based on the favorable reports of the technicians and the secretary of the City Council, and complied with current regulations.

The Guadalajara Provincial Court acquitted another five people.

Among them, the supplier of waste from the Chiloeches treatment plant, which, according to the ruling, does not show that he was aware of the administrative situation of suspension of activity, nor the negligent management in the accumulation and treatment of waste by the two companies. now doomed.

The manager of a landfill (and company) to which trucks loaded with untreated or uncontrolled waste from the Chiloeches facilities arrived was also acquitted.

Fact that was unknown to the person in charge of the landfill.

Lastly, the ruling acquits three workers from the Chiloeches waste treatment plant, who were hired by the two condemned merchants.

The Provincial Court of Guadalajara considers that these workers did not have the capacity to decide on the management that was taking place in the plant, nor did they know the danger of the waste that was mixed irregularly for its transport by trucks to the landfills.

Regarding the rest of the crimes that were prosecuted, in addition to the environmental crime that has been proven in the sentence, the Provincial Court of Guadalajara has not considered proven the crimes of falsehood in commercial documents, participation in a criminal group, management of hazardous waste, operation of facilities dangerous, and reckless injuries.

The sentence is not final and there is an appeal before the

the

.

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