Contaminated sites in Valais – Leaking Gamsenried landfill: “Remediation must be faster” – News

  • The Lonza company has to clean up the area around the Gamsenried landfill in Upper Valais.
  • Exactly how it should be renovated has been clarified for several years.
  • Environmental organizations have now lost their patience. They demand quick action.

Various substances have been stored and waste disposed of in Gamsenried near Brig for decades, including pollutants such as mercury, aniline, benzidine and benzene. The landfill is the size of around 40 football fields and is therefore four times larger than the well-known Kölliken landfill in the canton of Aargau. It was operated by the pharmaceutical company Lonza.

Studies show that groundwater is endangered by the main pollutants mercury, amines and benzene. In the 1990s, attempts were made to partially seal off the landfill. Despite this barrier, pollutants can still be detected three kilometers downstream and contaminate the groundwater there.

Legend:

The Gamsenried landfill in 2018 between Brig and Visp.

Keystone/ VALENTIN FLAURAUD

The pharmaceutical company Lonza and the canton of Valais expect that the clean-up of the landfill will take decades. For several years, clarifications have been made as to how the renovation should be carried out. For environmental organizations, including Pro Natura and the WWF, this is taking too long.

A refurbishment is urgent, they write in a press release. The renovation should be completed in 15 years – and not just in fifty. Because: “The chemical waste dump Gamsenried Lonza is a chronic incident.”

Barrels, old recording

Legend:

The landfill was operated by Lonza for around 60 years, here a photo from 1987.

Keystone (archive)

The associations make suggestions as to how the matter can be speeded up. “To do this, Lonza has to hire several engineering firms and only pursue promising rehabilitation methods,” says the statement. In addition, the method of rendering toxins harmless on site should be avoided.

That says the pharmaceutical company Lonza


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Legend:

Keystone/ PATRICK STRAUB

In a written statement on Wednesday, the pharmaceutical company confirmed that the planned restructuring will probably take several decades. “Lonza is already accelerating the process as quickly as legally possible.” Lonza also states that the preparation of a remediation project is being carried out in accordance with the legal provisions, namely within the framework of the so-called “Contaminated Sites Ordinance”. “The procedure provides for investigations, reports, variant studies and remediation projects to be submitted and checked by the authorities.”

The environmental organizations are also calling for a so-called “dynamic risk analysis”. “It is intended to show the consequences of decisions and breakdowns on ground and surface water, soil and air quality,” write the associations in their statement. The associations calling for faster action include not only the WWF and Pro Natura, but also the group of doctors for environmental protection and the Upper Valais group for the environment and transport.

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