Latest news with #toxicwaste
ABC News
5 days ago
- ABC News
Mayor says EPA monitored toxic waste dumping for years, failed to protect residents
A Victorian mayor who discovered that authorities were aware that toxic waste had been dumped outside a property near Bacchus Marsh says the state government has "absolutely no care for the safety of its people". Moorabool Shire Council lost a battle at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) against the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) on Wednesday. As a result the council has been ordered to clean up 20 pallets of dissolved acetylene cylinders, which are highly flammable and filled with asbestos. Moorabool Shire Mayor Paul Tatchell alleged the cylinders were moved from a property in Merrimu, near Bacchus Marsh, onto council land. He also alleged the EPA monitored the property for two years and watched on as the cylinders were dumped beside a public road. Cr Tatchell says it is "disgraceful" that ratepayers must foot an expected $500,000 bill to clean up the waste, which can only be processed at one site in Victoria. "At the end of the day we're there to protect our residents and we're going to get a bill for about half a million bucks, plus legal costs, for something the EPA knew all about and watched happen," he said. "They waited until these trailers were removed off this property and then put the order on us … to clean it up because the perpetrator was bankrupt. "[We either] have a gutless minister that won't stand in and protect the people, or an EPA … that is more interested in protecting the minister." Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos has been contacted for comment. The VCAT hearing heard the EPA had cameras set up at the address to monitor movement of the material but did not intervene. VCAT found that the footage was not monitored in real time and so would "simply provide information about what had happened rather than providing a realistic opportunity for intervention". In an affidavit to VCAT, Moorabool Shire chief executive Derek Madden said the community was being forced to pay for "the EPA's failure to manage a site under its knowledge and oversight". Cr Tatchell said the dumping of acetylene cylinders had been a problem for years throughout the state. "This is when they used to dispose of acetylene with asbestos … those cylinders can never be refilled by the people who manage the products," he said. Cr Tatchell believed whoever dumped the cylinders at Merrimu did so without the property owner's knowledge. "The EPA definitely knows [who it is], but they just haven't given it to us," he said. "There are still thousands of these acetylene tanks floating around Victoria on people's properties. "I've got absolutely no doubt that the EPA knows where they are and are just going to do the same thing all over the Victoria." The EPA said "as a result of VCAT's ruling, EPA's decision requiring council to clear the waste remains in force". "The matter is continuing in VCAT as the final hearing is not until later this year," it said in a statement. "EPA's investigation into the illegal dumping is ongoing so further comment cannot be made." The Victorian government said it was working with local governments to crack down on illegal dumping. "We know illegal dumping of waste has an impact on local communities and environment — that's why we have given the EPA greater powers to crack down on offenders, including tougher penalties for repeat offenders," a spokesperson said. "The EPA is working with local governments across the state, along with industry and community, to address this issue as part of its Illegal Waste Disposal Program, which aims to disrupt systematic illegal waste disposal."
France 24
12-07-2025
- General
- France 24
Stocamine: French toxic waste site threatens Europe's key water source
For more than 25 years, thousands of tonnes of toxic waste have lain buried beneath the old industrial town of Wittelsheim in France 's northeastern region of Alsace. Some 42,000 tonnes of toxic waste currently lie buried 500 metres below the site, which contains 125km of tunnels. On June 17, a Strasbourg court ruled that there was not sufficient time to remove toxic waste safely from the former potash mine, known as Stocamine, at the site. The court argued that the risk that the galleries could deteriorate or collapse made removal of the waste extremely dangerous. A press release from the Strasbourg court on May 15 stated that the studies presented in the file demonstrated that the site would only be accessible in 'sufficiently safe conditions until 2027/2028'. After examining all the possible options in terms of environmental risks, the public rapporteur ordered that the waste should be permanently sealed underground, and that it be smothered in thick concrete walls to prevent it from leaking out. But scientists and advocacy groups fear that the toxic waste risks seeping into Alsace's water table, one of the most important groundwater resources in Europe. Swiss geologist Marcos Buser, tasked with guiding studies and decision-making about the future of the mine's toxic waste storage in a 2011 committee of experts on Stocamine, predicts that if water seeps into the mining sites, 'pollution in the form of a contaminant plume could extend several kilometres long into the water table, hundreds of metres wide and 30-40 metres high". 10:33 Buser added, "In 20, 30, 50 years, people will say: they were crazy not to remove this waste when they could have done so." The geologist stressed that it is still possible to remove the chemicals. He believes the real reason French authorities don't want to do so is due to undeclared chemical waste inside the mine. The committee had already recommended and approved a partial destocking of heavy metals such as mercury in 2011. This took place between 2014 and 2017 as a compromise between non-retrieval and full retrieval of the deposited inventory. According to Buser, during that period of between 2014 and 2017, engineers and Stocamine employees discovered that about 20 percent of the big chemical waste bags that were torn contained chemicals that didn't match their labels – that they were falsely declared waste. Buser thinks that economic considerations led to the acceptance of the undeclared chemicals. 'The managers of Stocamine simply accepted any waste to keep the company alive," according to an investigation published in 2023 by Investigative Journalism for Europe. The geologist, who has worked in various destocking projects, such as the Sainte-Ursanne case in Switzerland, said that removing chemicals from the mine in Alsace is possible and that the current decision of permanent confinement is unacceptable while safe access to the mine is still possible 'It also concerns Switzerland, Germany' Alsace Nature and the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace (CEA) have since appealed the Strasbourg court's decision to the Nancy court, where the case is now pending. Both groups told FRANCE 24 that they are not backing down from their fight to have the waste removed from the site. In an email, CEA President Frédéric Bierry said that several mechanisms are still available for making appeals, including referral to European courts – specifically the European Court of Human Rights or the Court of Justice of the European Union – on the basis of the right to a healthy environment. Alsace Nature, the advocacy group that previously filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights – rejected under the emergency procedure – says its complaint remains under review and maintains that the Stocamine case goes well beyond a regional issue. 'It goes much further,' said the group's director Stéphane Giraud, pointing to cross-border risks. 'It concerns Switzerland, Germany and several million [people] who live off this water table.' Giraud warns that the long-term consequences of waste confinement are unpredictable, affecting not just water quality but the entire environmental and economic fabric of the region. As to health risks for Stocamine employees, no link has been officially established. 'We don't know what's really in the mine,' Giraud said, adding that workers live 'in a world of mining", which makes the risks difficult to confront. Even those opposed to burying the waste permanently are hesitant to speak publicly. 'It's a bit of a betrayal of their lives,' Giraud explained, noting that the mine was once a celebrated social model in the Haut-Rhin region. In 1997, the French government authorised the conversion of the mine into a waste repository to keep the economy of the town going, as it was suffering after the decline of potash mining. The project was presented as a job-creating initiative for former miners, but only 24 jobs were created and a 2002 underground fire in block 15 of the structure put an end to the reception of new waste, further eroding public trust in the facility. FRANCE 24 contacted Céline Schumpp, Secretary General of Les Mines de Potasse d'Alsace (MDPA), the company which succeeded Stocamine, for further comment on its position regarding the permanent sealing of the site. She referred to documents already available on the company's website, the Conseil d'Etat's decision on 2024, a report from Cour de Comptes – France's top court for auditing public funds – on the case and stated that, 'MDPA does not comment on court decisions; it enforces them.' The company maintains that due to the ongoing convergence of the mine leading to the gradual collapse of its tunnels, there is no longer a safe window to completely remove the waste and therefore
BBC News
10-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Wigan 'toxic' waste fire forces children to miss school
A "toxic" waste fire which had been burning for more than a week has forced nearby businesses to close and children to miss several days of school, an MP has said. A major incident has been declared after the blaze broke out on Bolton House Road in Bickershaw, Wigan, which firefighters finally put out earlier after 10 days. Labour MP for Makerfield Josh Simons said the fire, thought to have started with illegally-dumped waste, "never should have happened" and that he had been asking for assistance from the Environment Agency to clear the waste site for months. The Environment Agency has been contacted for comment. In a letter written to Environment Secretary Steve Reed, Simons said children at the nearby Bickershaw CofE Primary had missed "multiple days at school" because of the fire and that United Utilites was dealing with "toxic water run off". "In this fire, the people I represent are suffering again because their voices have not been heard and their warnings have fallen through the cracks between agencies," Simons Council said the school had since re-opened. The authority said it had declared a major incident on Tuesday because of how long the fire had been burning and the resources it required. The authority said it was working with the Environment Agency to look into alleged illegal dumping at the site. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- The Guardian
‘A timebomb': could a French mine full of waste poison the drinking water of millions?
Eight police officers linger with their backs to the two-hectare (five-acre) site known as Stocamine. The place is nondescript in the morning drizzle: two mine shafts, some modern-looking office buildings, a staff car park, lines of landscaped trees. The reason for the police presence, however, is what lies beneath: 42,000 tonnes of toxic waste stored under our feet. Stocamine, which lies in the old industrial town of Wittelsheim, Alsace, once held an old potash mine. Now, the mine shafts are closed, storing poisonous waste from elsewhere. Above the mine shafts is one of Europe's largest aquifers. Some fear this toxic waste won't stay sealed in the mine. In time, scientists say it could seep into the Alsace aquifer, which feeds into the Upper Rhine aquifer running between France, Switzerland and Germany, potentially contaminating the drinking water of millions of people. Contained in the mine are substances that have been linked to mass die-offs in wildlife, which could have severe and longlasting effects on ecosystems. On 17 June, a judge upheld the decision of the government and ruled the waste should stay and be smothered in tonnes of concrete to avoid it leaking out. Those campaigning for it to be removed have called the decision 'a timebomb for future generations'. Today, the main visitors are 30 cyclists in plastic ponchos, with a couple of children and support vehicles in tow. They have come to protest, but only last a short while in the rain before leaving. 'It's rare the police aren't here,' says Yann Flory, a retired sports teacher who campaigns against leaving waste in the mine and has organised more than 20 demonstrations since 1989. Flory started fighting against the mine because he had small children. Now he is doing it for his grandchildren. 'It won't be for tomorrow. Maybe I won't be impacted any more. I'm too old. But my children, my grandchildren, surely they will,' he says. 'We are convinced that one day or another, the water we drink will be irreversibly polluted.' The aquifer sits 5 metres below the surface. Down another 500 metres through striped pink and white rock is the old potash mine, containing 125km of tunnels. A space the size of seven football pitches contains mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals as well as cyanide and residues from household waste incinerators. Reports suggest additional illegal waste may be hidden down there too. Over the years, authorities and waste producers around the world have used former mines as 'safe' eternal graves for toxic waste – out of sight, out of mind. But the rock here is in motion, subsiding under pressure from neighbouring mines, corroding in 30C heat. Ceilings are sagging and walls are caving in at a rate of 2cm a year. There are concerns some of the containers of waste are not accessible – or won't be for much longer. Projections vary, but research suggests that over the next 300 years water will gradually flood the mine. Some scientists say it is possible to seal the pits and delay the release of contamination – or even stop it altogether. Other scientists argue that the only thing to ensure the safety of future generations is to remove the waste, which could cost about €65m (£55m). The government has chosen to inject tonnes of concrete into the galleries and backfill shafts to make them watertight, leaving the waste down there permanently. Environmental groups believe this is reckless, given the uncertainty over shifting rock. Even in low quantities, heavy metals in water have been linked to a series of health problems such as cancer, neurological conditions and kidney damage, and can accumulate in the body over time. The prospect of a leak also has significant consequences for wildlife living in rivers and wetlands fed by the aquifer. In aquatic life similar impacts including neurological issues and developmental deformities have been documented, with researchers saying waste leakage globally poses an 'enormous threat' to biodiversity. More cases are being documented of pollution leaching from landfill into water systems and contaminating soils, threatening ecosystems. Cyanide – one of the most toxic substances present in Stocamine – is extremely dangerous to river ecosystems, and has been linked to mass fish deaths and dead zones. Alsace Nature took the case to the European court of human rights, arguing that leaving the waste where it was posed a risk to public health. On 17 June, the court ruled that the waste could stay, saying deterioration of the galleries had already made removal dangerous. At the protest is one of the men who put some of the toxic waste in there in the first place: Jean-Pierre Hecht, who grew up in the town of Wittelsheim, known officially as a ville fleurie or 'floral city' but informally as 'the garbage commune'. Hecht started mining in 1982 when he was 20 years old. After long shifts he would hang his mining uniform on hook 366, proud of his work. He enjoyed the camaraderie and the physicality of it. He finished his career in the same tunnels where his grandfather started his. 'Everyone worked in the mine,' says Hecht. Mining companies created towns, roads, churches, canteens and health services for their workers. Schools and sports clubs were provided for children. The company subsidised holidays by the sea or in the mountains. 'What was good was that everyone was the same. There was no jealousy, everyone knew each other,' says Hecht. In the 80s there were 6,500 miners arriving here each morning. But even that was half the number who had worked here in the 60s, and through the 90s it continued to wane. 'We were the last generation,' he says. In 1997, the decision to store toxic waste in the mine was sold as a lifeline to miners: running a waste repository underground could provide them with continued employment. For years, officials reassured the public that the waste would only be stored down there for 30 years. 'We hoped that by storing the waste underground, we would find a solution to treat this waste and be able to recycle it in one way or another thanks to advances in technology. But work on this never saw the light of day,' says Hecht. Flyers distributed at the time described the project as 'a mine to serve the environment'. More than 90 jobs were planned, but they did not materialise. In September 2002 a fire broke out below ground, burning for days and spewing out toxic fumes for months. The CEO at the time received a four-month suspended sentence and the facility was closed down, having created just 24 jobs. After liquidation in 2009, the French government became the sole shareholder of Mines de Potasse d'Alsace, which owns Stocamine, and declined to comment for this article. Many of the children of miners still live in Wittelsheim. Today, Hecht – once a supporter of the project – says: 'Us former miners feel like we were betrayed.' When asked by journalists in 2022 what he would wish for the year ahead if he had a magic wand, the mayor of Wittelsheim, Yves Goepfert, said: 'I'd get rid of Stocamine.' For Goepfert, leaving the waste in the mine was 'the least bad solution that there is … For the moment.' 'I don't have an alternative solution that is less harmful than this one,' he said. He said there needed to be more research to understand the hydrology of the area, and potential risks in terms of flooding scenarios, and how it could be made more stable. 'There are plenty of hypotheses – as many hypotheses as specialists who come to have a look,' he said. Subterranean landscapes are unpredictable and what is buried can resurface in other ways. Stocamine is destined to gradually flood over the coming centuries but much is unknown about what happens when water meets waste. Several salt and potash mines have collapsed due to contact with fresh water, causing landslides, subsidence and sinkholes above ground. Dozens of hydrologists, geochemists and geologists have been pulled on to the Stocamine dossier to work it out. One is Marcos Buser, who first studied the case in 2010 when he was appointed by the French government as part of a steering committee. Buser's conclusion from the outset was clear – the waste can be removed and it should be done urgently. 'It's best to do it now and not to leave these things to future generations,' says the Swiss geologist, who is a specialist on toxic and nuclear waste. The standard approach of burying waste underground and forgetting about it is flawed, says Buser, who describes the history of hazardous waste disposal in landfills as 'a history of failures'. Containment measures often only last a few decades, and then it is expensive to remediate them. Stocamine is more than just a technical issue – it is a moral one too, he says. 'We have to fundamentally change the way we deal with waste. We cannot dispose of dangerous waste in the environment – it will come back,' says Buser, adding that we have to work towards a circular economy, not entomb mountains of waste. 'We are just leaving this burden for our dependents.' In the meantime, the European Community of Alsace will appeal against the government's decision to seal up the waste in Stocamine with concrete. 'We intend to systematically remind citizens and their elected officials that they have a timebomb ticking under their feet,' says Flory.
Daily Mail
19-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Residents of toxic town Love Canal suffered devastating deformities after chemical dumping
The residents of the now deserted toxic town of Love Canal in upstate New York suffered miscarriages, birth defects, and diseases including cancer in a horrific environmental disaster. Love Canal was built as a model town in 1890 on a three-block patch of land on the eastern edge of Niagara Falls, and is named after its founder William T Love. A few years later work began on a canal to link lakes Erie and Ontario, but it was abandoned after only one mile was dug. In the 1940s the canal was bought by the Hooker Chemical Company, which made dyes, perfumes, and solvents for rubber and synthetic resins. Between 1942 to 1953 the company used the canal as a landfill and dumped around 22,000 tons of toxic byproducts there. Love Canal was sold to the Niagara Falls City School District for 1$ in 1953, and developed into a 'charming' rural neighborhood. After leaving the site, the Hooker Chemical Company, which closed in 1968, covered the 16-acre hazardous waste landfill with a 2ft bed of clay, and around 100 homes and a public school were built on top of this. Eckardt Beck, an administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency visited the area in 1979, and reported meeting one woman who had two grandchildren with birth defects. The girl was born 'born deaf with a cleft palate, an extra row of teeth, and slight retardation', while the boy had an eye defect. Beck met two other men whose children had birth defects, and spotted 'puddles of noxious substances' which had 'a faint, choking smell'. He continued: 'Children returned from play with burns on their hands and faces.' People in the surrounding areas of Niagara Falls say toxic waste still impacts the residents. In a Facebook group about the town, a resident named Sally Ann wrote: 'The sad thing is that people believe that it's all 'fixed' and the chemicals don't go past the fence. 'It's still leaking into the ground. There are still active tank trucks that are pulling chemicals out of the ground. 'The part of the 102nd street dump on the river is visible from my dad's dock on Cayuga Island and I can see it from there. Everyone that lives around here is sick. 'My mother died from a rare autoimmune illness and my father has three different kinds of cancer. This is not coincidental. 'It's sad what they did to this area so many years ago. The repercussions will last forever.' In the same Facebook thread, Susan Rufrano Waitzman revealed how her aunt lived in the town and got mouth cancer, which resulted in the palate of her mouth being removed. Heidi Czewicz Barnett described how she had equally haunting memories of the place, writing: 'Lived on the corner of Colvin Boulevard and 97th Street. One of the original built houses. 'The fumes in the basement were so bad my mother used to pass out because of it and would always fall down the stairs to do laundry. 'My sister had boils all the time. My father used to watch contractors dig foundations for new homes and would ask what the green stuff was coming out of the ground. 'They told him to mind his own business. I myself came across some white rock that I thought was chalk and gave me a chemical burn all over my body. It's terrible.' William T Love had planned the community around the canal as an energy supply, but the project was ditched due to economic fluctuations. The EPA report noted that: 'In the 1920s the seeds of a genuine nightmare were planted [and] the canal was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite.' It is believed that 82 different compounds were dumped in the site, including 11 suspected carcinogens. But after residents started complaining about chemical leaks and strange substances surfacing in their yards and basements that they said were leading to health problems, an investigation was launched. Tests revealed that there were high levels of toxic chemicals in the soil, air, and water, prompting government action. As a primary organizer of the Love Canal Homeowners Association, Lois Gibbs helped to bring wide public attention to the environmental crisis in Love Canal. Both of her young children started to suffer from health issues, including asthma and seizures, after moving to the town. After much campaigning, on August 7, 1978, the then-New York Governor Hugh Carey announced that the state would purchase the homes of residents affected by the Love Canal chemical contamination. This decision came after a public health emergency was declared due to the hazardous waste site. The state's purchase aimed to facilitate the relocation of families from the most contaminated areas. In his 1979 report, Beck noted that he was 'very pleased' with how the Love Canal relocation initiative was actioned. But he concluded: 'But this is not really where the story ends. Quite the contrary. 'We suspect that there are hundreds of such chemical dumpsites across this nation. 'Unlike Love Canal, few are situated so close to human settlements. But without a doubt, many of these old dumpsites are time bombs with burning fuses - their contents slowly leaching out. And the next victim cold be a water supply, or a sensitive wetland. 'Love Canal can now be added to a growing list of environmental disasters involving toxics, ranging from industrial workers stricken by nervous disorders and cancers to the discovery of toxic materials in the milk of nursing mothers.'
