Resumen de Measuring the compensation of environmental damage through ‘value equivalency’: An application of the environmental liability directive to the Doñana-Aznalcóllar mining spill

Julia Martín Ortega, Roy Brouwer, Harry Aiking

• The Aznalcóllar mine tailings spill near the Doñana Park (Spain) is analyzed in the context of the Environmental Liability Directive. The ELD imposes liability on operators of risky activities for environmental damage, including the compensation for interim losses. Although other equivalency methods for the measurement of the compensation are prioritized, economic valuation is expected to play an important role. The results of this study, which shows that the measures carried out after the accident did not compensate for the damage at Doñana, suggest that the NOAAl’s burden-of-proof may have to be revisited to be applied in the ELD context.