In an e-mail, state attorney Andreas Schei writes the following: The municipality is today informed that the case has been dismissed as no criminal offense has been proven. The public prosecutor has come to the conclusion that the municipality cannot be held criminally responsible for the landslide or the destruction it caused. On the night of 30 December 2020, there was a large quick clay landslide at Ask in Gjerdrum. An area of 300 by 700 meters collapsed. The landslide took nine houses with over 30 apartments. Ten people and an unborn child died. Over 1,600 people were evacuated. Drone images from the landslide area in Gjerdrum. Lack of follow-up on warnings Shortly after the avalanche disaster, the Eastern Police District started an extensive investigation. In February this year, Gjerdrum municipality was charged. The police said at the time that the charge did not say that the municipality had actively caused any landslide. Nor that there have been errors in development planning or planning processes. But twelve reports of concern were central to the police’s conclusion. Here are the alerts12 alerts about avalanche danger over 13 years are the basis for the police targeting Gjerdrum municipality. Here are the most important notifications. In connection with the development of Nystulia, there is a meeting in April 2008 between the developer, the municipality, several landowners, the golf course, the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and the Nature Conservation Association, represented by hydrologist Steinar Myrabø. In the meeting, erosion in the Tistilbekken will be discussed, among other things. During the week before, Myrabø sent the municipality several photos of the stream which he believes document erosion. This year the municipality approves the development of a golf course in Gjerdrum. Hydrologist Steinar Myrabø, who attended the meeting in April, chooses again to notify the municipality of the danger of erosion if the area is developed. He sends several photos taken after the spring flood of the same year. In 2008, the consulting firm Asplan Viak was given responsibility for creating a plan for handling stormwater in the area. In the report, they write that there is a known risk of landslides and that the risk of erosion increases the more that is built out. The following year, they come up with proposals to, among other things, stone the edges of the stream and to secure the area with vegetation. A former landowner in the area sends a letter to the municipality and warns against the danger of erosion and that the stream may overflow. He is convinced that something will happen if the area continues to be developed. In the same year, the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) visited. They are concerned, and ask the golf course to correct the deviations they find in four days. At the next inspection, they close the case. The landowner who sent a letter to the municipality in 2009 is making contact again. He is following up on the warning from that time. And asks the municipality to “pay close attention to the consequences of the developments you allow, which add shock loads of storm water to this stream”. In 2014, a lawyer representing other landowners in the area contacts the municipality. The owners believe that increased water flow in the Tistillbekken increases the risk of flooding and landslides on their plots. The municipality is responsible for the damage, they believe. The municipality rejects this in its reply. The lawyer makes contact again the following year, and claims that the municipality has not followed up on the proposals from Asplan Viak in 2009. The municipality replies that they have followed up through regulatory plans. Otherwise, they believe that it is the developer’s responsibility, and that the municipality has no legal obligation to act and correct. The golf club that owns the golf course in the area contacts the municipality. They believe that increased development in the center of Ask has resulted in higher water flow in the stream and caused problems with, among other things, flooding. Two years before, they themselves excavated masses to clean up the stream. They have a meeting with the municipality in September, and after the meeting the municipality concludes that it may be appropriate to include “measures in the Tistilbekken as an infrastructure measure financed by the developers”. The municipality itself commissions a separate report on flood risk in 2019. The consulting company Norconsult delivers its mapping in the same autumn. It deals with flood risk, not landslide risk, but states: “In other words, this entire part of the municipality is prone to erosion and landslides. Landslides have not been discussed in detail in this report, as geotechnical expertise is required for this.” They recommend that the municipality hire a geotechnician to assess security measures. In January 2020, the municipality will adopt a new master plan for water, drainage and the aquatic environment. One of the measures is to follow up on the recommendations from Norconsult. The plan is to do what is needed in 2022-2023. On the night of 30 December 2020, a large mudslide will occur within the area with a known mudslide hazard. Ten people and an unborn baby die. Around 200 people lost their homes. Show more There are reports that the police thought the municipality should have responded to. Gjerdrum municipality was therefore charged with failure to follow up on notifications. The police believed that the municipality did not have systems in place to see alerts in context. They also believed that no measures had been taken against erosion in Tistilbekken, a small river in the area. – I find the charge to be unexpected and unreasonable, said mayor Anders Østensen in Gjerdrum in February. The municipality believed it had done nothing criminal. In response to the charge, Gjerdrum sent a 150-page report to the city attorney. They asked that the charge be dropped. Cause: “Unusually strong” erosion A government-appointed expert committee has investigated why the quick clay landslide occurred. The so-called Gjerdrum committee determined last autumn that severe erosion in the Tistilbekken was the main cause of the large mudslide at Romerike in Christmas 2020. They also believe that human influence has contributed to “unusually strong” erosion in the stream that flows through the landslide area. Inge Ryan has led the Gjerdrum committee. Photo: Knut Andersen / The county governor in Nord-Trøndelag – The erosion is greater than what can be expected from purely natural conditions, said committee leader Inge Ryan at the time. Proposing measures The committee has also considered what should be done to strengthen the prevention of quick clay landslides throughout the country. They believe that today there is too little control over protection against natural disasters. Therefore, the committee wants a new law to prevent what happened in Gjerdrum from happening again. The Gjerdrum committee has also proposed a number of other measures. One of them is a National Action Plan which makes it clear what the municipality, state and landowners are responsible for. The committee also wants a central system for reporting and following up on reports of concern. The government has not promised anything, but has said that the proposals will be thoroughly assessed.
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Gjerdrum municipality will not be prosecuted after the mudslide in 2020 – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
