Matosinhos, Galp and APA seek alternative to contaminated land

The Minister of the Environment said this Saturday that the Matosinhos Câmara, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and Galp are working to find solutions for the land considered contaminated that was going to be ceded to the municipality

"I myself participated in a meeting with the mayor of Matosinhos, Galp and APA. The teams are working to meet the challenges for the compatibility of objectives between the verification of contamination [of land] and what needs to be done to remove all associated risks," said Duarte Cordeiro.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Action was speaking to journalists in Porto on the sidelines of the presentation of the first Metro do Porto car of a set of 18 ordered from the Chinese CRRC Tangshan, having assured that "everything is being done to make objectives compatible.

"The teams are working to make the objectives compatible. We cannot ignore that if the land is contaminated and there is no adequate response, other solutions have to be found. But there is no reason not to believe that there will be an understanding between everyone. We will give space for the teams to work", said the governor.

Last week, APA revealed that the plot of land of the old refinery that Galp intends to cede to the Matosinhos City Hall for the Innovation City has contaminated soils and groundwater.

"Following this assessment of soil and groundwater it was concluded that there is contamination of soil and groundwater" in the plot in question, said the APA, in response to questions by Lusa.

The entity pointed out that Galp was informed of this opinion.

The APA said that the risk analysis conducted by Petrogal for the land between the refinery, closed in 2021, and the street António da Silva Cruz, in Leça da Palmeira, determined the existence of "unacceptable risk to future users of the plot (considering a possible residential or industrial use of it), a situation to be overcome with appropriate risk management measures.

Following this news, the Matosinhos City Hall (Oporto district) said it would only accept the land, applying in this parcel the available investment from the Fund for a Just Transition, after the guarantee that the risks are properly safeguarded.

Galp said that it was "expected" that the land would have to be "subject to remediation" and, in turn, the Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N) revealed that measurements and analyses are being made "with more or less detail" on the level of contamination of the land.

In April 2022, it was made public that Galp gave 40 hectares of the approximately 260 hectares that occupied the refinery to the local authority to develop public utility projects and apply the funds from the Fund for a Just Transition.

On the occasion, the mayor, Luísa Salgueiro, pointed out that the area ceded by Galp is located in the North top and that, in principle, it would not need to be decontaminated because it had no equipment or activity.

On this plot, the local authority intends to build an innovation city linked to the "energies of the future", under a cooperation protocol between Galp and the North Regional Coordination and Development Commission.

The city of innovation aims to enhance "an urban, social and environmentally sustainable ecosystem, including trade and services, hotels, restaurants, Industry 5.0, housing, cultural and leisure facilities, especially a 'Green Park'".