European Commission said Thursday that it is pursuing legal action against Spain over three breaches of European Union (EU) environmental law. Two of the breaches relate to obligations for the treatment of waste water, with more than 400 towns and cities listed as not having water treatment up to EU standard. The third case regards Spain's open-cast coal mining in a protected nature site. Spain will receive final warnings on the three breaches of EU legislation. In the first case, the commission considers that some 343 Spanish towns and cities are discharging urban waste water into already designated sensitive or potentially sensitive areas without appropriate treatment. This constitutes a breach of an EU directive that by the end of 1998 requires that cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants that discharge water into environmentally sensitive areas be equipped with a treatment system that meets the most stringent quality standards. A commission assessment also confirms that six potentially sensitive areas remain to be designated and an area designated as less sensitive in the Cantabria region does not meet the directive's requirements. The commission has therefore decided to send Spain a final warning letter over the case.
In the second case, the issue at stake is the lack of compliance with a separate directive concerning larger towns and cities. Under the directive, urban areas with more than 15,000 inhabitants were required to have adequate waste water collection and treatment systems by the end of 2000. The commission considers59 cities not compliant. A final warning letter has also been sent in the case. A third case concerns a long-term investigation by the commission into several open-cast mining projects in Laciana Valley in the Castilla y Len region. The projects are located inside an important nature site called Alto Sil that is home to the brown bear and the Capercaillie grouse, critically endangered species protected under EU legislation. A first warning letter was sent to Spain in February 2008. After a site inspection, the commission still considers that the mining activities are likely to adversely affect the endangered species and has decided to send a second and final written warning. Spain has two months to respond satisfactorily to the issues. The commission, the executive body of the EU and guardian of its laws, may decide to take the cases to the European Court of Justice if Spain fails to respond within the time limit or if the responses are deemed unsatisfactory.
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