Plastic waste is just one more unwelcome element that congregates at the mouth of the Segura River.
Once again the accumulation of this dangerous and harmful product has been denounced by the Association of Friends of the Wetlands of the South of Alicante (AHSA), which on this occasion seems to have attracted a response from the Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura (CHS), the organisation responsible for the cleaning of the river, which moved in to start removing the mountain of waste last Wednesday.
CHS have focused their efforts in an area between Orihuela and the estuary in Guardamar where they say that the build-up was caused by “the rains that occurred between the months of November and December 2018”, after which there was an increase in the weeds which trapped the plastics at a number of different points of the Segura.
The CHS plans to undertake cleaning services in Orihuela, and in the Azud de Alfeitamí (Almoradí), in Benijúzar, at the bridge in Rojales and in Guardamar del Segura. Afterwards, the waste materials are separated and the extracted waste will be transported to the landfill.
In its letter of complaint, the environmental group said that there was “a moderate optimism with the change of attitude of the new leadership of the CHS with respect to the problem of discharges of plastic waste in the Segura river but “To solve the problem, we must attack the question at source, because it is useless simply to collect and clear the garbage time and again. People must be prevented from dumping solid urban waste, and even animal carcasses into the river if we are to clear up this matter.”
In their letter, Friends of the Wetlands say that they welcome a statement from the current president of the CHS who has expressed the clear will of his administration “to install devices for the retention of floating waste in the main hazards of the region, as requested by AHSA through its petition to the European Parliament.”
