Two months into the pellet crisis: Galicia records the collection of less than 20% of the microplastics lost at sea

Two months have passed since the

Toconao

ship , flying the Liberian flag, lost six containers off the coast of Portugal, one of them loaded with

pellets

that flooded the Galician coast and sparked fear among its neighbors with the shadow of the

Prestige

still very much in sight .

present.

Today white balls continue to reach the coast, but they are more scattered among different beaches.

This is explained by Cristóbal López, spokesperson for Ecologistas en Acción, who assures that there is “a watery soup of

pellets

in the water” that flows to the shore every day in small quantities.

How many

pellets

have been collected on the beaches?

According to the information provided by the Xunta to this newspaper, the device launched by the regional government has recovered to date 3,640 kilos of

pellets

, the equivalent of 145 bags, in addition to another 16,222 kilos of larger plastics also removed from the beaches. .

To these accounts, add another 289 kilos of

pellets

removed by volunteers, the equivalent of about 12 bags, which were delivered on the beach.

And another 1,095 kilos of plastic granules, almost 44 more bags, collected in the town halls, of which the majority were whole, although there were some open and part of the load was missing (this count includes all the ones he took out of the shore only one resident of Corrubedo, Rodrigo Fresco).

In total, the Xunta estimates that 201 bags of pellets

have been collected

, weighing 25 kilos each, which represents only 19% of the 1,050 lost at sea on December 8.

Although EL PAÍS has verified that the bags accumulated in some municipalities have not yet been removed, these plastic granules also arrived, to a much lesser extent, in Asturias or Cantabria.

The vast majority of microplastics are still in the ocean or are moving to other places.

"Currently, the withdrawal of plastic granules has decreased considerably with the extraction in the last week of an average of two kilos per day," the regional government points out.

What is the status of the cleaning operation?

Two weeks ago, the Xunta de Galicia lowered the alert of the Territorial Contingency Plan for Accidental Marine Pollution of Galicia (Camgal Plan) to level 1, given the decrease in the incidence of the plastic tide.

Since then, the surveillance and cleaning device for plastic granules is made up of 10 brigades distributed throughout the three Galician provinces.

“This operation visits the beaches to inspect them and if it finds waste, it proceeds to remove it.

Otherwise, it moves on to the next sandy area to check its condition and act accordingly," details the Xunta, which ensures that, in addition, "environmental agents and professionals from the Galician Coast Guard Service join in, reaching a total of around a hundred effective.”

Meanwhile, at sea, the air and maritime resources of the Galician Coast Guard Service are alert in case they detect any entire bags floating.

Pellets

continue to arrive ,

but

also criticism.

In the Valdoviño City Council they say that they still have granules from the plastic tide

in their municipal offices, about two kilos, which no one from the regional government has picked up: "We warned them to come get them whenever they wanted, but they haven't done it yet."

They regret the lack of communication and “bad management.”

They claim that Tragsa, the cleaning company hired by the Xunta, went to clean some beaches, but never informed them of its presence.

The mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, also criticizes the organization of the Xunta, although he assures that no pellets

from the Toconao ship

were detected on its beaches

:

“It has had a calamitous performance in this crisis.

He did not contact our city council until 23 days after the accident, once we reported his absence, and he did so by letter.”

He says he had to buy cleaning materials with municipal funds, “in anticipation of what could happen,” because the Xunta did not respond to his request.

On the beach, López tells how last Saturday he collected microplastics on the beaches of Carnota because his organization also continues with the cleaning crews: “There are still

pellets

, but we believe that with the storm and the storm the bags have broken at sea and they have avoided the Galician coasts.”

The ecologist says that these will continue arriving on the Galician coast, although in a more dispersed way.

Where are the

pellets

collected by the Xunta?

The plastic granules collected by the regional government are transferred to an intermediate storage facility, where they remain deposited to guarantee control of the quantities recovered.

"This step is essential both for the count of the collected material, information that will be transferred to the responsible company, and to guarantee the proper management of this material when it is deemed appropriate," the Xunta points out.

How many

pellets

have been recovered from the sea?

One of the big unknowns, which may never be resolved, is where the lost container is located and if there is still cargo left inside.

The Xunta has defended time and again that efforts will be increased to detect the bags in the sea before they reach the coast in the form of a wave of tiny microplastics.

However, of the equivalent to 201 bags of plastic granules recovered so far, the regional government states that five were found floating in the sea: two were located by professionals in the maritime-fishery sector on January 11 and three by means of the Gardacostas Service on January 13, 15 and 28.

It remains to be seen if the tide will continue to decrease in intensity or if the ocean will repeatedly return all that remains of the lost

pellets

.

What is known about chemical analysis?

The

pellets

are a mixture composed of 88-90% polyethylene and 12-10% of the additive called UV622 according to the technical reports commissioned by the Xunta, based on the product's technical sheet.

According to the Ecotox research team at the University of Vigo, the polyethylene polymer is “completely harmless”, while the UV622 additive, used as an ultraviolet light stabilizer, includes two components: succinic acid, without toxicological problems, and a synthetic substance of the family of aromatic amines that gives it its antioxidant character.

“It is classified by the European Chemicals Agency as a substance with chronic toxicity.”

That is, it would only be toxic in prolonged exposure, which does not occur with specific cleaning tasks, and irritating to the eyes.

However, other analyzes that were being carried out remain to be known, not with the information provided by the manufacturer, but with that of the

pellets

themselves collected on the coast, as well as their impact on marine species.

Of the first, a preliminary study by the Applied Analytical Chemistry group at the University of A Coruña detected, in much smaller quantities, traces of 14 other substances most commonly used as plastic additives, including new amine-based UV stabilizers, octylphenol and three antioxidants. .

However, researchers at this university assure that they continue working and have not provided more information.

Of the second type of studies, the Ecotox team from the University of Vigo reports that the results of their analyzes with marine species show that the

pellets from the

Toconao

spill

do not prevent the development of sea urchin larvae.

At what point is the judicial investigation?

The Court of First Instance and Instruction 2 of Noia agreed to open proceedings for the possible existence of a crime against natural resources and the environment, following the complaint filed by Podemos, to which was added the complaint filed jointly by the Montescola Foundation, Ecoloxistas in Action and the Platform for the Defense of the Sea of ​​the Muros-Noia Region.

The judge commissioned Seprona to provide a report on the ownership of the

Toconao

vessel , the circumstances under which the loss of the cargo occurred, its contents and composition, in addition to the scope of the spill and the delimitation of the affected area.

Furthermore, she admitted the appearance, as a popular accusation, of the complaining parties.

“We do not receive any news about the judicial process because the preliminary proceedings and investigations continue,” says López.

Added to the investigation is the one opened almost a month ago by the Environmental Chamber prosecutor, who commissioned Seprona to analyze samples of the

pellets

to determine if they are dangerous, and requested information to find out how the spill was affecting the national parks and Galician natives.

The Galician electoral campaign seems to have relegated the plastic tide to the background.

“Until after the elections I don't think there will be any news,” says López, who has the feeling that an attempt is being made to reduce the problem: “It seems that with our concern we are questioning the people of the sea and the price of the Galician product, but that is not like that".

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