Cepsa has launched the final phase of the operation to rehabilitate the soil in the harbor side area near the Port Authority Building and Explanada Ligrasa, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The operations that start today on this land recovered from the sea will consist of the selective excavation and separating out of the soil, with a view to cleaning any soil that may be affected by oil.
This method has been chosen as the most effective approach for the type of terrain concerned, and will also avoid the need to transfer it to a rubbish tip under controlled conditions, since the excavated soil will be returned to the same spot once it has been cleaned.
This is the final phase of the operation undertaken by Cepsa in the area to clean and recover the soil, after the latest analyses carried out on this site pointed to a more than 97% reduction in the effects of the oil levels compared with the beginning of the operations, back in 2006. Since then, various operations have been undertaken to clean the soil, with regular monitoring exercises to assess the progress of the systems and techniques applied, which have demonstrated their effectiveness.
The operations that are now starting will be carried out over the coming months by the Litoclean company, until all the remaining oil in the area has been removed. For this purpose, Cepsa has obtained all the relevant authorizations from the Deputy Minister of the Environment of the Canary Islands Government and the Port Authority.