Les Canyades landfill verdict delayed

RESIDENTS living near the Les Canyades landfill site in Campello are waiting for a court decision that never comes.

Almost three years have passed since four experts and three witnesses declared before the Valencia Region’s Upper Court of Justice (TSJ) regarding complaints about the bad smell from Les Canyades.

Tests and analyses were made and statements taken but no ruling has yet arrived from the court and the smell continues to persist. Earlier this month, residents living near the site complained yet again about the stench which has become even more unbearable at night, they said.

Measures taken at the site over the years have done nothing to improve the situation which always gets worse during the summer. This, they insist, also poses health risks for those living nearby.

The latest delay on the part of the TSJ is the fault of the Consell – the regional government’s Cabinet – which has failed to supply the court with vital paperwork referring to modifications brought in by the previous Generalitat.

Both the regional government and FCC, which runs the plant, are in the TSJ’s sights although on the strength of a study by the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the Conselleria finally acknowledged in 2014 that the smell from the plant was a serious problem.

The TSJ process is the last of the residents’ ammunition in their case against Les Canyades which they say has given them “seven years of hell.”