Environment
The largest remediation of contaminated sites in Austria has been completed on the voestalpine site in Linz. Contamination was removed from the coking plant area. 163 million euros were spent on it.
The example of the coking plant in Linz makes it clear how long people are concerned with the aftermath of a war. The area was bombed more than 80 years ago during the Second World War, which resulted in tar oil and carcinogenic hydrocarbons escaping. The area is 350,000 square meters.
In 2009, the contaminated site was classified in the highest priority class for remediation of contaminated sites and preparations for the upcoming work began. From 2012 to the end of 2022, around 850,000 tons of excavated material were moved, removing 1,800 tons of pollutants from the soil. About 30,000 kg of volatile pollutants could be removed by “soil air extraction”. In addition, around 3,000 kg of pollutants and pure creosote were actively removed from the groundwater. The ground had to be dug to a depth of 17 meters.
Cost of 163 million euros
The site was renovated for more than ten years and the work is now complete. According to Environmental and Climate Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens), the costs for the entire project amount to 163 million euros, the federal government has taken over the vast majority of this amount.
