In information sent to the Lusa news agency, Oikos began by expressing "concern about the enormous environmental damage resulting from the breakdown at the Monte Real pumping station," in the municipality of Leiria, an infrastructure managed by Águas do Centro Litoral (AdCL).

"In addition to the serious environmental damage, which directly impacts the water resources of the Lis River, its agricultural fields, and its community," Oikos warned of "the impacts of this serious accident on the economy and image of an entire region that, over the past few years, has invested so much effort in building an image of trust and restoring environmental balance."

The association demanded "a rigorous assessment of the entire situation," as well as "a thorough reflection on the interventions to be carried out to ensure the effective functioning of the current wastewater collection, transportation, and treatment system."

On the other hand, Oikos called for "urgent determination of the serious environmental, economic, and social impacts resulting from this accident" so that "compensatory measures can be established for all the damage caused."

On Wednesday, AdCL announced that the Monte Real station, which pumps effluent to the Coimbrão wastewater treatment plant, was "temporarily inoperative due to a failure in the pumps that make up the pumping system."

According to the company, "the emergency discharge system at the station, as well as at the upstream pumping station (Serra de Porto do Urso), was activated," and the discharges occurred, "respectively, into the Lis River and an adjacent irrigation ditch."

This situation led to the ban on swimming at Praia da Vieira in Marinha Grande, where the Lis River flows, and the Leiria City Hall advised against activities in the stretch of the Lis River downstream of Monte Real, such as irrigation, swimming, and fishing.

Today, the company confirmed that the malfunction has been resolved, as of 12:30 AM, and effluent discharges into the Lis River have ceased.

The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) revealed that following the malfunction, recorded at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, it notified AdCL to install a retention system to prevent effluent discharge into the Lis River.

In a statement, the APA announced that it had notified the company to, "in addition to taking all necessary steps to repair, as quickly as possible, the pumping system associated with the pumping station," "urgently install an effluent retention system to significantly reduce or even prevent its discharge into the Lis River."

The APA also clarified that, in conjunction with the Nature and Environmental Protection Service of the National Republican Guard (GNR), it "has already activated all applicable legal mechanisms, including sanctions."

The Leiria GNR, in turn, revealed that it is investigating the pollution in the Lis River and that the situation has "seriously impacted local fauna and flora," and there is already "evidence of this impact with dead fauna, especially fish."

On-site, the GNR "conducted investigative measures related to the pollution source."

In addition to statements, the GNR collected "samples of wastewater and surface water, intended to assess the degree of water quality degradation," measures aimed at "notifying the Public Prosecutor's Office and executing the corresponding criminal investigation actions."

The Leiria City Council maintained that this is a "serious environmental incident" that "led to the direct discharge of untreated effluents into the Lis River." They demanded that AdCL "immediately adopt measures to contain and repair the damage caused," as well as solutions to prevent similar incidents.

The city also called for the creation of an investigation committee and the guarantee of "environmental and social compensation."