Hundreds of people demonstrated this Sunday from Abanto-Zierbena and Muskiz to the Petronor plant to denounce the benzene emissions recorded by an incident in a gasoline tank that occurred last Thursday and demand that “enough is enough.” The alerts from the authorities did not arrive until ten hours later and were lifted this Friday. Residents of these two towns in Biscay have left at noon from the Muskiz Town Hall and the Plaza de Trinidad in the neighboring town, in two marches that have joined together in the vicinity of the Petronor plant.
The protesters carried out the route led by banners on which they could read slogans such as ‘Petronor aski da’, ‘Meatzaldeak ezin du gehiago jasan’ or ‘Petronor fumigates us with benzene, it kills us with cancer’. Likewise, they carried signs with slogans such as ‘You are killing us’, ‘The Mining Zone is not for sale’ and ‘Today benzene and tomorrow what?’, among others, Europa PRess reports.
The participants in the mobilization have expressed their concern about the possible effects on their health of the incidents at the plant and have demanded that what happened not be repeated. Likewise, they have shown their anger after this week’s incident, which has been “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Along the same lines, the Secretary of Energy Transition of EH Bildu, Mikel Otero, has denounced that the Basque Government reacted “late and poorly” after the incident. Otero led the EH Bildu delegation that participated in the mobilizations this Sunday and claimed that “all industrial activity, including Petronor, must comply with environmental regulations and must protect people’s health.” “Throwing highly polluting substances into the air is not protecting people’s health,” he denounced.
