Raising a stink: Spaniards sue state over pig farm pollution

MADRID (Reuters) - Environmental groups and residents are suing the Spanish state and the region of Galicia in a landmark case over alleged decades-long mismanagement of pollution caused by intensive pig farming, activist charity ClientEarth said on Wednesday.

The case, which argues that the authorities' inaction in Europe's largest pork producing country breached national and European law, was filed with the High Court of Justice of the northwestern region - home to about a third of Spain's pig farms.

ClientEarth, which is supporting the case alongside Friends of the Earth Spain, said in a statement it was the first time a court in Europe will hear a case on the impact of intensive livestock operations on water sources and, consequently, on residents' human rights.

There are about nine plaintiffs involved, including residents and associations.  

People in northwestern Galicia's A Limia area say life has become "unfeasible" due to hundreds of intensive pig and poultry farms, which they say are putting the health of their community at risk.

The stench, which prevents residents from opening the windows at home, is only part of the problem, they say.

Chemicals such as nitrates are also widely used in industrial farming and often end up in groundwater and water reservoirs.

About 20,000 people live in the affected area.

The case says an "extremely high level of nitrates", which pose the risk of a number of cancers and other diseases, has been recorded at the local reservoir, where studies have also found antibiotic-resistant bacteria and an extremely toxic substance known as hepatotoxin.

"We are so concerned about the pollution that even the idea of walking near the reservoir has become unfeasible," Pablo Alvarez Veloso, president of the local neighbourhood association, was quoted as saying in the statement.

The local authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The claimants, including Spain's consumer organisation CECU, decided to bring the case to court after officials continued to rubber-stamp new farms despite residents' repeated attempts to get them to address the agricultural pollution.

"Both the Spanish constitution and European law could not be clearer: public authorities have a legal obligation to protect people from harm – and even from exposure to harmful pollution," ClientEarth lawyer Nieves Noval said.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Kate Mayberry)