Around thirty mayors from Ponent are on the warpath against the largest biogas plant in southern Europe.

BarcelonaAfter three years of procedures, the urban plan to build a macro biogas plant in Sentiu de Sió (Noguera) has received the green light from the Barcelona Urban Planning Commission. It is the largest facility of its kind in southern Europe—it will process around 500,000 tons annually—and could be the first in a wave of biogas factories in Ponent, as part of the rollout of the Catalan Biogas Strategy 2024-2030. However, both the approval of the urban plan and the possibility of more factories proliferating have sparked outrage among some thirty mayors in the region, who are standing firm against the project and have announced they will challenge it in court. Despite the silence of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), the mayors warn that the factory will not be able to operate solely with local slurry and that, in practice, it is a black hole for the Danish investment fund leading it—Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners—to do business with waste that will come either from Aragon or the province of Barcelona. This waste includes animal remains and slaughterhouse waste, and not just slurry.

Through the Living Towns Platform, which coordinates the opposition to the project, 27 mayors from municipalities such as Artesa de Segre, Agramunt, Linyola, Tàrrega, Bellpuig, Les Borges Blanques, Torres de Segre, and Torrelameu wrote to the Regional Minister for Territory, Sílvia Pane, for Urban Planning. However, the Generalitat (Catalan Regional Government) opted to proceed with the project, declared a strategic project by the previous ERC government despite complaints about its environmental impact (and that of the 21,000 trucks expected to circulate through this small town in La Noguera to transport waste). Paradoxically, the majority of the mayors opposed are from ERC, which also rejects the project through its local branch. Others are from the CUP (Cultural Unity Party), Junts (Junts), and local lists. The Living Peoples Platform's manifesto against the project also has the endorsement of around twenty organizations, such as Ecologists in Action and the Catalan People's Assembly.

"It's not local"

"It's being sold as a necessity for the region, but it isn't, and neither will a local plant," argues the mayor of Tornabous, David Vilaró, who warns that this manure management model makes things easier for mega-farms while leading small-scale farmers to ruin. In Torres de Segre, Mayor Àxel Curcó laments the problems that local farmers have encountered in promoting similar small-scale projects (for example, in Alcarràs) in the face of the "red carpet" for this investment fund. In Bell-lloc d'Urgell, Mayor Carles Palau criticizes the lack of general regulations regarding where the plants can be located and the use of slurry as an "excuse" for an investment fund to speculate with the land. All of them also sign the Pueblos Vivos manifesto.

The platform and the mayors unsuccessfully attempted to halt the process until at least two of the most contentious points were clarified. First, according to an expert report they commissioned, the Sentiu plant is located less than 500 meters from a farm, thus violating the minimum distance established by law. This finding contradicts a report from the Department of Agriculture—which has subsidized the project with 4.5 million euros. When questioned by this newspaper, sources from the Department of Agriculture clarified that, although there is indeed a cattle farm less than 500 meters away, according to the department's interpretative criteria, the elements that could pose a risk to its proximity are outside that distance radius. Therefore, the report was favorable.

Secondly, according to opponents, the urban planning process followed to authorize the plant is incorrect: "The POUM would have to be changed, because it is an industrial activity. Such an activity cannot be carried out on protected agricultural land," emphasizes Gerard Batalla, spokesperson for Pueblos Vivos and farmer. Territori, on the other hand, believes that a special urban planning plan is sufficient, which treats the plant's activity as a fuel production facility (and not an industrial one). It is a similar case to the one that already sparked controversy in the biogas plant that is planned to be installed in Moià, also with neighborhood opposition.

A controversial session

The controversy had a direct impact on the Urban Planning Commission meeting last Tuesday, where the government ultimately forced a vote on the agenda item despite several members present expressing doubts about the project's legality and, above all, complaints about the impossibility of having accessed the documentation in sufficient time (48). This was reported to ARA by sources present at the meeting, who explained that the government also refused to vote on whether to postpone the decision to dispel any doubts. The discussion lasted more than an hour and ended in a vote, whereas, normally, decisions in the Commission are made by consent. This is not unprecedented, but it is unusual, explain sources familiar with the matter.

Prior to Tuesday's session, the Territory department had attempted to convince the mayors of the project's merits 24 hours earlier in a virtual meeting, also convened late on Sunday. There, Councilor Paneque also rejected the possibility of reviewing the alleged irregularities in the project. Similarly, Territory sources emphasize that the process has been carried out "scrupulously well and with all the necessary safeguards," and they are reaching out to the region to address their remaining differences through "dialogue."