The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, today transferred the support, commitment and collaboration of the Government to the Xunta to face the environmental emergency of plastic pellets. “Yesterday we communicated to the Xunta the disposition of all the terrestrial and maritime means necessary for the cleaning of pellets if the area surveillance detects the product in the sea and I reiterated it today,” he said.
He did so during a meeting held this afternoon at the headquarters of the Xunta in which the Conselleira de Medio Ambiente, Ángeles Vázquez, and the Conselleiro del Mar, Alfonso Villares, participated, as well as different representatives of the two administrations.
Pedro Blanco insisted that “this is not the time to look back” and that once the Xunta asked for the collaboration of the Government “now it is time to work with maximum responsibility” to achieve the least affectation on the Galician coast. In this regard, he said that “both parties agree that the best option for cleaning and removing the pellets is on the beaches” and that “we will coordinate the air and sea resources of the Government and the Xunta” to optimize resources and be more effective, referring to the 2 helicopters and 19 boats that the Xunta de Galicia has. “If we locate sacks of pellets in the sea we will act,” he added, as advised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for this type of incident.
At the same time, the government delegate stressed that, “although now the Xunta informed them that it does not need help on the beaches, the government keeps an initial checkpoint ready to act immediately where necessary.”
Finally, Pedro Blanco assured that “we take a first step” and guaranteed that the Government will continue to maintain “a transparent dialogue with the Xunta” to respond to current needs.