Campo das Cebolas is one of the most emblematic places in the Portuguese capital. The picturesque buildings together with the stunning landscape make it extremely hard to avoid a visit, particularly to tourists.
Fig. 1 – Proposed refurbishment of Campo das Cebolas in Lisbon (source: Diário Imobiliário)
In November 2015, the Lisbon City Council started an upgrading project regarding the refurbishment of the Lisbon riverfront. Its deadline is expected to be in April 2017 (Fig.1). Among many other alterations, special reference is made to a parking lot with 206 places, promoted by EMEL (Municipal Enterprise for Lisbon Parking and Mobility) that is already being constructed .
One year after this project being implemented, the Member of Parliament José Luís Ferreira from the parliamentary group “The Greens” questioned the MInistry of the Enviroment about a possible soil contamination in Campo das Cebolas, inasmusch as, during many years, a fuel pump occupied that same area . This question is based on the fact that, supposedly, there are around 12000m3 of contaminated soils but only 25 tons were transported to the CIRVER (Integrated Centre of Salvage, Recovery and Disposal of Dangerous Residues).
According to an article published in the Portuguese magazine Visão, in March 2016, these suspicions had already led, to an extra inspection by IGAMAOT (General Inspectorate for the Sea, Environment and Land Use Planning). This same entity then explained the following: “the existence of an old deposit was confirmed, and it was empty, without any sign of spill being found”. It was thus guaranteed: “there is no evidence that those sands are somehow contaminated with hydrocarbons”. Furthermore, it is known that the previously mentioned 25 tons of dangerous residues were only sent to ECODEAL (Integrated Management of Industrial Residues) after the referred inspection.
Providing the likely soil contamination at Campo das Cebolas, Anabela Cruces, who has a PhD in Economic and Environmental Geology, revealed, while interviewed for this article, that until recently, the concept of environmental awareness was unknown to most of us. Consequently, the city of Lisbon, as well as its riverfront, grew before any previous evaluation of the contaminated sites had been carried out. Several areas of the city were being renewed and rebuilt, including those where once there had been strong industrial occupation dated back to the 19th century. Therefore, there is a high likelihood that these Lisbon soils are contaminated.
On the other hand, as Anabela Cruces explained, until the present moment, there isn’t any national law on forcing neither the seller nor the buyer of a certain land to make an evaluation of the soil contamination level. Actually, there is only an Ordinance that comprises this assessment. However, it applies solely to sediments – transported soil, which is found in the aquatic environment (Ordinance No. 1450/2007). Anabela Cruces highlights: “if there is no legislation that compels the landowners to talk about the «past» of their land, it is ultimately up to the buyer whether to know the region extremely well or to be «lucky» enough to acquire a non contaminated land”. At to what extent should the buyer, eventually a foreigner, take responsibility for the contaminated land?
Nowadays, the Portuguese Agency for the Environment recommends following the Canadian legislation – the Ontario Regulation. Notwithstanding, in 2015, a legislative proposal regarding the soil contamination and remediation prevention – ProSolos – was presented. Although it has already been highly discussed, this proposed bill has not passed into law yet.
This draft law aims at evaluating the soil quality and respective remediation and at planning the soil historical registration throughout the years. This last ambition is described, according to the interviewee, as extremely rewarding, because if one isn’t aware of what exactly happens to a certain soil in a determined period of time, then how can we guarantee it was this or that specific activity that caused the contamination?
In fact, there are various types of contaminants that can be found in a soil: the organic, the inorganic, the radionuclides and the microbiological ones. The latter, besides harming the soil itself, might be released to the atmosphere, since they are volatile or may even contaminate groundwater through leaching. Professor Anabela Cruces declared that in order to assess the contamination level, three factors ought to be taken into consideration: the type of contaminant, the path that the contaminant has to take to reach its target and the way it addresses the target.
The researcher agrees that only preventive action can solve this issue effectively: “if I suspect my land might be contaminated, in order to avoid future complications, I should make soil analysis, even if there isn’t any law forcing me to do so”. Moreover, she adds that given the possible soil contamination in the urban area, the main concern of the Lisbon City Council should be to guarantee the life quality of its inhabitants.
Nevertheless, the financial part seems to be the major obstacle to the treatment of the contaminated soils, because soil testing implies fieldwork and specific analyses in specialized laboratories. In addition, from the moment a land contamination is brought into to the public eye, it suffers depreciation in value. This scenario is extremely undesirable, especially in a city whose cost of building per m2 has increased exponentially in the past few years.
If the land concerned remains available for business transaction, then there are two alternatives: either the former owner sells the land by the initially stipulated price by taking the responsibility to decontaminate the land and affording its costs; or the new owner, if aware of the contamination, buys it for a lower price and bears the environmental remediation costs. In one way or another, the former owner ends up, inevitably, loosing profits.
If in the past there were industrial or trading activities in Campo das Cebolas, the probability of its soils being contaminated is high. However, who should we blame? In order to avoid similar situations in the future, the only feasible solution is to raise awareness and foster a common understanding amongst council houses, governments and citizens. After all, prevention is always better than the cure.
Bibliographic references
http://www.cm-lisboa.pt/viver/urbanismo/espaco-publico/projetos-frente-ribeirinha
http://www.osverdes.pt/pages/posts/lisboa-96-campo-das-cebolas—os-verdes-questionam-o-governo-sobre-solos-contaminados-8062.php
http://visao.sapo.pt/actualidade/portugal/2016-11-30-Obras-no-Campo-das-Cebolas-levantam-duvidas-quanto-a-possivel-contaminacao-dos-solos
http://www.eurofins.pt/ambiente/eurofins-lab-environment-testing-portugal/servicos-analiticos/matrizes/solos/
I would like to thank Professor Anabela Cruces for her availability in answering to the all the questions that were asked in order to write this article.
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