Almost a year after the discovery, an enormous dumping of drug waste in the De Brabantse Wal nature reserve near Bergen op Zoom has still not been cleared up.
That writes Fidelity.
‘drug pit’
Ten months ago, at the end of March, forester Erik de Jonge discovered the ‘drug pit’. It would be about the biggest drug dumping that was ever found in the Netherlands. Criminals discharged huge amounts of chemicals into the ground for a long time via an underground well. The well is said to have been found next to a drug lab. It is now known that 2500 cubic meters of soil in the nature reserve has become contaminated.
The owner of the area, Brabants Landschap, and the environmental service are arguing about the remediation plan and the clean-up costs.
Meanwhile, the drug waste full of toxic substances seeps further into the subsoil of the wooded nature reserve. Less than a year after the discovery, none of the parties can say when exactly the remediation of the dumping will start.
‘Complex operation’
The environmental service, which works on behalf of the province, must supervise the decontamination of the soil. A plan of approach from Brabants Landschap must first be approved.
The province says it is taking so long because it is a “complex” operation. According to the province, it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to clean everything up again.
Special damage fund
The Brabants Landschap, who owns the area, normally pays for the clean-up costs. The nature manager can go to a special compensation fund, but the maximum compensation per dumping is 25,000 euros. That is by no means enough for such large discharges. No one can say how great the damage is.
ALSO READ: Drug pit Brabantse Wal most expensive waste dumping ever and can run into millions
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