Crato, Portugal, May 9, 2025 (Lusa) - Environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) from the C7 Coalition warned on Friday that they will file an injunction if construction of the Pisão Dam in Crato, in the district of Portalegre, goes ahead.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Hélder Careto, from the Land Use and Environment Study Group (GEOTA), one of the C7 entities, explained that the coalition will seek an injunction to prevent "serious damage that would be difficult to repair" in the dam construction area.
"If the works begin, we will proceed with an injunction, since, with the start of the works, we will have an imminent situation of serious damage that will be difficult to repair in the area affected by the project," he said.
The C7 Coalition's warning comes precisely on the day when, at 3 p.m., several contracts will be signed related to the implementation of the Crato Multi-Purpose Hydraulic Development Project (EAHFM), also known as the Pisão Dam.
At the ceremony, at the Crato Town Hall, the project financing contracts and the concession for the construction of the primary infrastructure will be signed, as well as the consignment order for the construction of the dam, according to the Alto Alentejo Intermunicipal Community (CIMAA), responsible for the implementation of the Pisão project.
At the beginning of the year, the Castelo Branco Administrative and Tax Court (TAFCB) issued a ruling annulling the Environmental Impact Statement included in the project's Single Environmental Title, following a lawsuit filed by the C7 Coalition.
In February, the Minister for the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, announced that the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) had appealed against the court decision that annulled the EIS for the Pisão Dam, which has an investment of over 222 million euros.
Earlier this month, the deputy minister for territorial cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida - also the head of the AD - PSD/CDS coalition in the Portalegre constituency in the upcoming legislative elections on the 18th - announced that construction work on the dam could go ahead.
Speaking to Lusa at the time, the minister explained that the TAFCB "resolved the pending legal issues" and that the ruling "is favourable" to the progress of the work.
"Secondly, all the necessary authorisations and licences have been granted by the Portuguese Environment Agency and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests," he added.
Also contacted at the time by Lusa, José Janela, from the Portalegre regional branch of the environmental association Quercus, one of the non-governmental organisations responsible for the action in the TAFCB, considered the government's statements to be "incorrect".
"The TAFCB ordered that the case be referred to the South Central Administrative Court for consideration of the appeals, but without overturning the decision that ruled in favour of the ENGO," he said.
According to CIMAA, which covers the 15 municipalities in the district of Portalegre, the deputy minister for territorial cohesion and the minister for the environment and energy, Castro Almeida and Maria da Graça Carvalho, respectively, are expected to attend today's ceremony.
Funding for the project was transferred from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) to the State Budget and increased from €151 million to over €222 million, setting 2027 as the deadline for completing all components of the Pisão project.
HYT/ADB // ADB.
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