Project M1.1.C/I.E./001/2021

This proposal arises from the need to trace the current picture of the environmental situation of reference around Ecoparque I on the island of São Miguel, in terms of soil pollution and biomonitoring of air quality, prior to the start-up of a waste energy recovery center.

The study proposal covers an area located at the convergence of the three cities of São Miguel, configuring a scenario of particular interest for study and evaluation from the ecotoxicological and environmental health point of view in the Azores, including the human population potentially exposed to local pollution.

The development of this study will benefit from the tools and methodologies of biomonitoring of air quality developed in a PhD project in Biology carried out at the University of the Azores, between 2016 and 2021, and supported by the Regional Fund for Science and Technology

In order to determine what will be the real contribution of the activity of the Waste Energy Recovery Plant to
environmental pollution levels, it is necessary to characterize the current situation in the area surrounding its future installation,
before its entry into operation, establishing a base reference from which to discriminate the
effect of incineration.
The characterization of relevant pollutant levels will be carried out at ground and air level, within a radius of 2 km from the
point where the unit is intended to be built, in order to serve as a reference in future monitoring programs.