Mines de Sallent i Balsareny
Barcelona | Spain
The potash mines in Sallent and Balsareny (jointly exploited with the nearby mines in Súria), have caused the salinisation of the Llobregat river, also affecting wells, springs and aquifers throughout the Bages region, which has led to a number of legal proceedings for environmental crimes.
Project factsheet
| Status | Suspended underground mine | |
|---|---|---|
| Concession | Generalitat de Catalunya 1919, 1921, 1925, 1929, 1943, 1966, 1967 | |
The Sallent and Balsareny-Vilafruns mines were operated independently until 1945 and then jointly until their closure in 2020. The 2018 restoration plan established a 50 year period to extract and sell salt from the waste piles, and only then would restoration be carried out. | ||
| Minerals | NACL MIN | |
This is a potash mine, which mainly extracts carnallite, sylvite and halite. | ||
Proprietaries
| Company | Origin | Start | End |
| Sociedad Minera S.A. | Spain | 1928 | 1945 |
| Deutsche Kalisyndikat GmbH | Germany | 1928 | 1945 |
| Minas de Potasa de Sallent S.A. | Spain | 1929 | 1932 |
| Potasas Ibéricas, S.A. | Spain | 1932 | 1972 |
| Unión Explosivos Río Tinto S.A. | Spain | 1972 | 1982 |
| Potasas del Llobregat S.A. | Spain | 1972 | 1982 |
| Instituto Nacional de Industria / SEPI | Spain | 1982 | 1998 |
| ICL Israel Chemicals Ltd. | Israel | 1998 | |
| Iberpotash, S.A. | Spain | 1998 |
El Cogulló waste pile
Environmental infringements
River/stream pollution Groundwater pollution Mining-induced subsidence Agriculture/fishery Water use / availability Mismanaged mine waste facility (MWF) Absence of restorationPotash mining has created massive waste piles (known as 'runams' in Catalan), mostly made up of sodium chloride (83%), which leaches due to rainwater and moist at a rate of approximately 1,000 tonnes per day of polluting brine. The part of this brine that, after filtering into the groundwater, is not captured and conveyed to the Mediterranean through the brine collector, salinises springs, streams, wells and rivers in the Llobregat basin.
In Sallent, the El Cogulló mining waste facility occupies 48 hectares with over 41 million tonnes of waste. In 2019 a court injunction ordered the mine to restore the Cogulló waste pile. However, a 2018 restoration plan established that the restoration would only be carried after a 50-year period during which the company will transform the salt extracted from the tailings into brine and send it to the sea via a new brine-duct.
Salinisation has forced the water supply companies to incorporate reverse osmosis systems to reduce the salt content of the water in their two large water treatment plants supplying the Barcelona metropolitan area, at an additional cost of 3 million euros per year. Frequent accidental brine spills from the Llobregat basin collector, which currently collects and discharges most of the brine from the mining industry into the sea, have caused extensive damage to riverside habitats.
Iberpotash was condemned in 2015 for discharges of saline water from waste dumps, which affected and continue to affect streams, agricultural lands and the water supply of of Barcelona's metropolitan area. The judgement sentenced the mine managers to 2 years in prison, established financial reparations for the affected communities and obliged them to repair the 'ecological disaster they had caused'.
Whole neighbourhoods had to be evacuated in Sallent due to subsidence caused by underground works.
El Cogulló waste pile
Permitting, impact assessment and restoration
Illegal permitting/operation Lack of (transboundary) EIA Impact omission in EIA/EIS Inadequate restoration plan Lack of financial guarantees Administrative neglectThe El Cogulló dump was authorised by the Ministry of Industry in 1977, when the old Botjosa dump was abandoned. After decades of pollution, in 2003 the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the precautionary stoppage of the salt waste discharges at the Cogulló dump on the basis of existing evidence of environmental crimes, which was rejected by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia.
In 2008, the Catalan government granted an environmental authorisation to the Sallent mining operation, with a financial guarantee of 1.1 million euros. In 2011, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia ruled that the restoration plan for El Cogulló was not credible and that the guarantee was insufficient, and in 2013 a new ruling annulled the environmental authorisation for lack of an environmental impact assessment. Both rulings were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014 and 2015.
In parallel, the European Commission initiated an infringement procedure against the Spanish State for alleged non-compliance with Directive 2006/21/EC on the management of waste from extractive industries at the Iberpotash waste dumps. The European Commission determined the 'clear insufficiency' of the guarantee initially imposed, a position confirmed by the General Court of the European Union in a 2020 ruling.
Additionally, the modification of the Sallent Municipal Urban Development Plan approved in 2010 to legalise the waste dump was also annulled by another judgment of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia in 2013.
In 2017 the Catalan government granted a new environmental authorisation to mine and a favourable Environmental Impact Statement with corrective measures for a project to expand the Cogulló salt deposit. However, in 2019 waste discharge at the El Cogulló dump ends and a year later the Vilafruns mine (Sallent - Balsareny) also closes down.
El Cogulló waste pile
Civil rights and corporate counterinsurgency
Social engineeringThe mining company finances various social entities and cultural events in the Bages region, as well as sponsoring sports teams. It has also promoted the establishment of the Fundació Cardona Històrica that manages the 'Salt Mountain Cultural Park', opened in 2003 to generate a positive vision of mining. In 2007 it also supported the creation of the Iberpotash Chair in Sustainable Mining at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. A Social Platform in Support of Mining and Industrial Activity in Central Catalonia (ProMineria) was created to support the mining project.
El Cogulló waste pile
Working conditions and labour rights
Poor working conditionsTrade unions have denounced and striked against poor working conditions that have often lead to accidents, including fatal ones.
Public funding
EU funding National fundingThe European Commission and the General Court of the EU sanctioned Spain and Iberpotash for the illegal acquisition of public funds granted by the State and the Generalitat de Catalunya. The General Court ratified that 'the company did not assume the costs of environmental protection that other competitors in the mining sector assume in the EU', which represented a 'favourable treatment compared to its competitors', and condemned the company to repay more than 5.8 million euros. Despite this, the Commission itself allowed Iberpotash to coordinate the 6.7 million euro HERMES project (2015-18). Iberpotash continues to receive millions of euros each year from the indirect CO2 emission cost offsetting mechanism.
Use of complaint mechanisms
Administrative complaint(s) International remedies Criminal proceedingsIn 1997 a police investigation was initiated as a result of complaints from civic and environmental organisations, resulting in a long criminal trial that concluded with convictions by the Manresa Court in 2014 and confirmatory sentences by the Barcelona Provincial Court in 2015.
The civic movements also filed complaints with the European Commission and the Catalan Ombudsman, as well as filing dozens of judicial and administrative appeals and allegations in relation to succesive plans and projects.
Last update: 13.1.2023