More than two dozen beaches have already been prohibited or discouraged or prohibited in this bathing season, due to water quality problemsaccording to a report released by the environmental association Zero.
In a statement, Zero highlights that, despite the “very limited number of beaches with problems”, these were manifested as expressive as in the last bathing season.
The discouragement or prohibition of bathing, even for a short period of time, affected 22 beaches, 23 less than in the same period last year. Twenty-one beaches have been closed to date, most of them due to poor water quality, although this information is not available through the Information System and the reasons can only be confirmed through the media,” the note says.
In this sense, Zero warns that “there are flaws in the information that is available on the website of the Portuguese Environment Agency“, since “the reasons for the prohibition of the bathing areas and the procedures by the regional health delegates are not properly explained”.
There are similar contamination situations where in some cases new analyzes were carried out before bathing and in others not. There are many cases of beaches in which a closed season (temporary or permanent) has been decreed for which the system does not contain information on the reasons that led to the injunction decision, nor analysis results that have been carried out”, reads the note.
Following this balance, Zero argues that it is necessary investigate and prevent water pollution situations and implement”appropriate control measures“.
“Many of the bathing areas that have been discouraged or prohibited during the current bathing season have an excellent rating, so they must be sporadic episodes that, within the framework of the legislation, cannot even jeopardize their quality, but that their causes should be duly investigated“, emphasizes the association.
For Zero, “in each case it is essential to identify the origin of the problems and determine the responsibilities, with the Portuguese Environment Agency and the General Inspection of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Territorial Planning playing a decisive role”.
The environmental association also mentions that only one of the 58 Zero Pollution beaches presented “significant problems”.
“Among the 58 beaches classified by the association as a ZERO pollution beach [zonas balneares onde não foi detetada qualquer contaminação nas análises efetuadas ao longo das três últimas épocas balneares]list published in early June this year and available at https://zero.ong/58-praias-zero-poluicao-em-29-concelhos-mais-cinco-que-em-2021-e-ha-uma- water-bathing-indoor/, none of them was covered by a prohibition or by the recommendation or prohibition of bathing, with the exception of the Armona-Mar beach in the municipality of Olhão”, indicates Zero.
Source: Observadora
