JH CLIMATE
Thousands of tonnes of industrial and building waste discovered ploughed into land adjacent to local beauty spot
An investigation has been launched after it was revealed that some 20,000 tonnes of waste has been discovered ploughed into farmland next to the Mariager Fjord in Jutland, reports broadcaster DR.
Plasterboard, Styrofoam chips, copper wire and paint are just some of the materials that have ended up in the ground. Nearby is a 50 meter-long and seven-meter-deep pile of waste, seemingly ready for to be ploughed in.
Kasper Fuhr Christensen, chairman of the technical and environmental department at Randers Council, said the discovery is worrying.
‘We will immediately begin to explore what it is and what has happened,’ he said.
‘And then, of course, we expect that this kind of thing will never happen again – it’s just not acceptable,’ he added.
The waste, which has been worked into the land for the last five years, is said to have come from Overgaard Gods, one of Denmark’s largest companies whose offices are located nearby the illegal waste. The local council says that the firm has never been given permission to spread the waste on fields in the area.
Christian Halgeen, chairman of the Danish Society for Nature Conservation in the area was shaken by the discovery.
‘It’s a surprisingly large amount and it’s not like it just happened by accident,’ he said, stressing that the materials he was most concerned about were heavy metals.
Eigil Andersen, a Jutland SF party member, wants the matter to be referred to parliament.
‘I think it’s criminal that Overgaard Gods have ploughed several thousand tonnes of environmentally harmful waste into the ground,’ he told DR based news website P4 Østjylland.
‘It may be profitable to violate the rules, but I hope the profits will be confiscated and they get a fine,’ he added.
Overgaard Gods has not commented on the matter. The company’s website states that they produce bio compost, under the banner ‘Using nature in the correct way’.
The Copenhagem Post
