The Valencia City Council has announced that the three beaches of El Saler that were affected last Tuesday by a fuel spill from one of the merchant ships that entered the Port of Valencia have been reopened for swimming. Yesterday, the use of the beaches was already authorised but access to the water is prohibited. In this way, normality returns to these beaches that are part of the La Albufera natural park.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the spill of hydrocarbons on three beaches in the south of the city of Valencia and has requested information in this regard from Seprona, the Maritime Authority and the General Directorate of the Natural Environment of the Department of Environment, Infrastructure and Territory of the Generalitat Valenciana.
The spill detected in the sea on Tuesday and which reached the sand on the beaches of Saler, l’Arbre del Gos and la Garrofera, forced these areas to be closed for the removal of the substance until Thursday, when public access was allowed although with the red flag, since bathing will not be permitted until the analysis of the waters conclude that its quality is optimal.
A preliminary study indicates that the spill contains fuel and some oils, and due to these components it could have come from a ship, according to the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, who has asked to wait for the report to be conclusive.
A preliminary study indicates that the spill contains fuel and some oils
The investigation is ongoing and the Maritime Authority, through Maritime Rescue, continues to track and inspect “each and every one” of the ships and vessels that passed through the area in the previous hours.
Once the beach cleaning was finished, the bags with the waste were removed and 35 cubic metres were collected in the cleaning of 2.8 kilometres of coastline.
Source: www.lavanguardia.com
