– We do not know the extent of the pollution that has occurred. This is something we must now have highlighted, says environmental manager Christina Egsvang Føns, Esbjerg Municipality.
Jyllands-Posten writes on Saturday that the discharge of PFOS-containing wastewater took place over a number of years.
This happened even though the permit to discharge excess waste water expired in 2007.
Falck, which then owned the fire school, has stated that PFOS in fire foam was phased out from 2002 and stopped completely in 2009.
So how could excess wastewater containing PFOS be discharged if PFOS was no longer used in fire-fighting foam?
– One of the theories is that when you collect fire foam on the fire school’s exercise area and direct it to the wastewater system, then PFOS from the existing pollution can penetrate and get into the wastewater.
– So there does not have to be a question of new PFOS being discharged from 2007, but it may be PFOS from the existing pollution that has been recycled, says Christina Egsvang Føns.
According to the environmental manager, it is a bright spot that no drinking water is extracted in the area.
According to Christina Egsvang Føns, there have also been no grazing cattle that have been able to absorb the substance through water and grass, as happened with the cow grazers’ guild in Korsør.
Here it subsequently turned out that a large part of the 187 members of the association have elevated values of PFOS in the blood.
In Esbjerg, the extent of the pollution at the fire school must now be investigated further.
The administration must give the politicians in the planning and environment committee a statement on the matter at the next committee meeting.
– This is a matter we take very seriously. We know that there is a pollution. There is just some data we need before we can act.
– We need to know the extent and extent of the pollution before we can say what needs to be done. We now have a dialogue about this with the previous and current owner of the school and the region, says Christina Egsvang Føns.
Source: The Nordic Page