CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR
The European Parliament is today debating the need for a new, integrated epidemiological study for the Campo de Gibraltar that would include Gibraltar. The matter is a response to a petition from the environmental group Verdemar-Ecologistas en Acción signed in 2007 by 13,000 residents of the area. The main reason raised by the environmentalists at the time was the residents' health concerns, as several studies show that the Campo has above average cancer and mortality rate, which they say is owed to pollution from local industries. For her part, the Junta's Health Councillor, María Jesús Montero, said earlier today>that such cases "are owed to past medical histories, which emerge after several years."
Asked about the parliamentary debate, Montero referred to "the six studies already carried out by the Junta." These, she added, have given negative results "in terms of the presence of benzene and other substances, and therefore there is no different environmental circumstance that is damaging citizens' health."
Nevertheless, Montero declares that "it is obvious that the environmental situation is perceived as bad in the sense that pollution is present, although, according to the studies we carried, there is no relationship with people's health." She also asked for caution, as "we have not yet received any notification [from the EU Parliament] and we aill wait for them to request all the information we have on the subject."
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