The Guardia Civil's Environment Department (Seprona) has closed down two illegal construction-material dumps in the Axarquia.

These illegal dumps are in Torrox and Algarrobo and were being filled with building waste from all over the Axarquía, the police believe.

The police investigation into these sites was part of a province-wide crackdown on illegal dumpsites because of the contamination filtered down to water tables from the surface and the subsequent health risks this provokes. There is also the consideration of the visual impact caused.

In the case of Torrox, the police saw that a plot measuring 6,328 sq/m was being used for this purpose with the rubbish being piled up to over six metres in some parts. This translates into 36,000 cubic metres of solid refuse. The fact is that Seprona had reported this situation to the Town Hall several times since 2017.

The officers also noted that there was a high-tension pylon in the middle of the dumping area, leaving it semi-buried, with the overhead cables barely four metres from the ground.

As for Algarrobo, the affected area covers 8,730 sq/m piled up to ten metres at one point, so we’re talking about 87,300 cubic metres. There was also a pungent smell meaning that there was rotting organic material present as well. They also noted that grinding sounds were coming from below, meaning that it wasn’t stable, adding yet another danger to be considered.

They also found illegal well shafts to extract water to irrigate nearby greenhouses; water that was contaminated and therefore a health risk. Finally, they found upon inspection that part of the dump had clogged up a stream stopping its natural flow.

The combined tonnage of building waste dumped on the two sites is equivalent to 24,000 lorry loads over the last ten years

(News/Noticias: Torrox/Algarrobo, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)