The Regional Directorate for the Environment and the Sea (DRAM) urgently notified the Santa Cruz Municipal Council (CMSC) to immediately repair a serious fault in the municipality’s basic sanitation system, following an open sewage discharge that occurred between Reis Magos and Atalaia, near the Garajau Nature Reserve.
The discharge, confirmed by the local authority, was caused by a “serious obstruction” in the underwater emissary that serves the Caniço Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The situation is being addressed by the operating company, which is carrying out work to unblock the pipeline that transports wastewater from Caniço and Camacha.
According to information from the Regional Directorate for the Marine Environment, the management of the basic sanitation network, including collection, treatment and clearance, is the sole responsibility of the municipalities. The inspection chamber where the discharge occurred, located at the base of Pico da Atalaia, has been showing recurrent blockages in recent times, which could reveal serious deficiencies in the maintenance of the terminal part of the network.
DRAM stresses that this is not the first time that it has notified CMSC about the need for urgent interventions in the infrastructure, warning of significant environmental risks, particularly due to the proximity of the affected area to a protected area of high ecological value. The environmental authorities insist on the need for adequate investments by the municipality to ensure the proper functioning of the network and avoid the repetition of episodes of this severity.