Environment
By chz/dpa
18 hours ago
Here
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lübtheen: A warning sign with the inscription “Danger to life – area contaminated with munitions” stands near a former military training area.
(Jens Büttner/dpa)
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is making slow progress in the often difficult and dangerous removal of military waste. According to the Interior Ministry in Schwerin, 370 hectares of munitions-contaminated forest areas were made usable for forestry purposes again last year.
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Almost 70 hectares have been completely cleared by the state’s ammunition recovery service, and 300 hectares can be used again without endangering forest management. “The aim is to have the approximately 10,000 hectares of highly contaminated forest areas in the state cleared in 20 years,” said Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD), making the scale of the task clear.
Forest fires caused ammunition to detonate
Last but not least, the devastating forest fire in the summer of 2019 in Lübtheen (Ludwigslust-Parchim district) had shown the dangers that still lurk in the soil of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania due to ammunition from the Second World War and maneuvers by the National People’s Army (NVA) and the Red Army. Old ammunition had repeatedly detonated during the fire on the former military training area.
For safety reasons, the firefighters were unable to get to the source of the fire and could only extinguish it from the edge. In a forest fire near Wöbbelin, south of Schwerin, the fire-fighting work was also made considerably more difficult by ammunition in the ground.
Clearance especially in Lake District
According to Pegel, in 2023, around 485 hectares were examined by the ammunition recovery service during the preliminary investigation of highly contaminated forest areas within a radius of several locations. As a result, an almost completely cleared area was created near Wöbbelin. Further areas were cleared of contaminated sites near Rosenow, Wilhelminenhof, Neubrück, Peetsch (all in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district) and Crivitz (Ludwigslust-Parchim district).
Forest fire in Lübtheen as a warning signal
“The forest fire in Lübtheen in the summer of 2019 was a clear signal that the federal and state governments need to better position themselves with a national strategy for fighting forest fires,” said Pegel. Last year’s successes are due, on the one hand, to the agreement concluded in 2022 with the Federal Office of Real Estate to implement the explosive ordnance program.
In addition, the state has also significantly increased its funds for the clearance. “Old ammunition is a major problem, both for reasons of hazard prevention and for environmental protection. We must gradually remove it, for our generation as well as for our children and grandchildren,” said Pegel.
