By Claus Jotzo
On June 23, 2023, the Bosenheim swimming pool was closed overnight without any prior notice. The corresponding press release from the administration can still be read today on the city website bad-kreuznach.de. In it, responsibility for the closure is assigned to the district administration and the SGD Nord. Attorney Herbert Emrich has now revealed that this drastic measure, which after more than a year has turned out to be permanent, was initiated by the municipal BAD GmbH. Via a voluntary disclosure. The city and BAD GmbH had previously kept this secret.
Attorney Herbert Emrich (standing top left) explains to the Bosenheim local council details of the closure of the swimming pool on June 23, 2023.
BAD GmbH was not specifically named as the initiator of the closure in the press release printed verbatim below. Herbert Emrich reported in detail the procedural stab in the back from behind from the administration of the Bosenheim pool in the form of this voluntary disclosure at the meeting of the Bosenheim local council on Tuesday of this week (September 17, 2024) in the presence of Mayor Emanuel Letz and Councilor Markus Schlosser, neither of whom said a word about it. Through meticulous study of the files, the lawyer had determined the actual course of action as follows:
On June 7, 2023, the head of the gas/water department of the municipal utilities used by BAD GmbH due to the group structure wrote on the letterhead of the municipal BAD GmbH to the Structural and Approval Authority (SGD) North. And officially reported a water loss there under the subject “Water loss into the subsoil from the Bosenheim outdoor pool; SDB Superflock AL granulate, BA Superflock liquid …”: “Hello Mr. Heimann, around 46 cubic meters of pool water seep away every day in the Bosenheim outdoor pool. The water contains the above-mentioned substances according to the manufacturer’s specifications and free chlorine between 0.3 and 0.6 mg/l”.
After a telephone contact failed, the SGD Nord wrote to BAD GmbH on June 15, 2023 and asked for clarifications. The department head hastily submitted these to the authority on June 19, 2023. In an email dated June 20, 2023, the SGD Nord declared itself incompetent and referred to the Bad Kreuznach district administration as the lower water authority. It expressly stated that it would “find a solution together with colleagues” there. BAD GmbH, which needs several days to respond to press inquiries, then contacted the district administration immediately by telephone and then in writing on June 21, 2023.
In this letter, the chlorine content is only given up to the maximum value of 0.6 mg/l. And for the first time, there is talk of “possible contents of the treatment substances”. The email was sent at 10:51 a.m. At 11:18 a.m. on the same day, June 21, 2023, just 27 minutes later, the district administration wrote to the State Office for the Environment of Rhineland-Palatinate and asked for a professional assessment of the situation. And at 2:05 p.m., still on June 21, 2023, the district administration wrote to the SGD Nord. In this email, the district officially forwards BAD GmbH’s voluntary disclosure to the SGD.
And, with reference to Section 96 LWG, it asks for “a technical decision”. The district administration gives the SGD the alternatives: “Either the pool must be closed due to water law concerns or the infiltration of the swimming pool water is harmless from a water management perspective”. The answer from Koblenz came the next day. On June 22, 2023 at 11:59 a.m., the SGD wrote: “From a technical point of view, the illegal discharge of wastewater into the subsoil must be stopped immediately, even if this would involve a temporary closure of the swimming pool”.
As a result, on June 22, 2023 at 2:13 p.m., the Lower Water Authority asked the head of the District Building Authority, Christoph Liesenfeld, internally within the district administration: “We will order the municipal utilities to close. Any concerns?” The answer came promptly at 4:05 p.m.: “We have to fulfill our duty. I have no concerns. Kind regards, Christoph Liesenfeld.” The specialist department of the district administration then immediately took action. And in a letter dated June 23, 2023, which was sent on June 26, 2023, it issued a “water law order” (file number 63/660-4/1). Addressed to Stadtwerke GmbH.
Already in the early morning of June 23, 2023 at 7:10 a.m., the Lower Water Authority wrote in a preliminary email: “In coordination with our specialist authority, the SGD Nord in Koblenz, the illegal discharge of wastewater into the underground must be stopped immediately, even if this would involve a temporary closure of the swimming pool. … We will submit a formal order later.” The city responded immediately to this email, which was very welcome to them – the formal order had not yet been received. In addition to a multitude of factual and legal questions that this approach raises and which we will discuss in detail in the coming days and weeks, the documentation of this case made possible by attorney Emrich is of the utmost importance.
Because everyone who has official dealings with the district administration now knows: if the district administration wants to, it can handle even complex tasks in the shortest possible time. The excuses that have been heard for years for the procrastination and delay of decisions (coronavirus, understaffing, high workload, etc.) played no role in the case of the Bosenheim swimming pool. Those affected by district administrative files can now demand a much faster processing method by referring to this case. And in cases of continued refusal to work, provide qualified reasons for actions for failure to act at the administrative court.
The city’s press release of June 23, 2023 in full:
“Due to high water losses, Bosenheim outdoor pool closed from today
The Bosenheim outdoor pool will be closed from today. The order was issued by the Bad Kreuznach district’s water authority in coordination with the SGD Nord. The high water losses and the associated uncontrolled discharge of water into the ground make this step absolutely necessary. This means that the pool must be emptied immediately and the water must be drained into the sewer in a controlled manner.
The pool company will now immediately draw up a renovation plan to reduce the water loss to the amount that is normal for an outdoor pool of this size. This will be submitted to the Bad Kreuznach city council and the supervisory board for approval. Those who have a season ticket for the Bosenheim outdoor pool can continue to use it at the Salinenbad. The ten-ticket cards for the Bosenheim outdoor pool will be paid out in proportion to the usage.”
