This is reported by Danmarks Radio. A treatment plant on the Stignæs peninsula in Denmark has for several years received millions of liters of contaminated waste water, including from Norway, and pumped it into the sea. The chemical-containing waste water is cleaned at the RGS Nordic plant and pumped out into Agersø Sund, which is a nature protected area in Denmark. According to RGS Nordic itself, the company has annually imported between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes of waste water from Norway in recent years. This corresponds to around 25 per cent of the company’s water treatment. Although the waste water goes through a purification process, it is polluted and dangerous to the environment, according to researchers and experts. RGS Nordic itself states to news that they clean to approximately 95 percent purity. A fisherman calls the emissions and the state of the sea area an “environmental disaster” to the Danish newspaper Zetland. – I have been fishing at Stigsnæs since 1986, and it has been the best fishing water in Denmark. Now death reigns and it continues every day that waste water is released from the factory, says Jesper Nielsen to the newspaper. The Norwegian Ministry of Oil and Energy writes in an e-mail to news that they are not in a position to answer questions about wastewater treatment in Denmark. “There are questions that must be addressed to relevant actors in Denmark”, they write, and also refer to the Ministry of Climate and Environment (KLD). KLD has not yet responded to news’s inquiry about the matter. Admitting that they affect the ecosystem, RGS Nordic believes that overall they meet the requirements of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and Slagelse municipality. – There is nothing in the reports that have arrived that shows that we do not meet the emission requirements, says Simon Leed Krøs, head of communications at RGS Nordic to news. At the same time, the company admits that they affect the ecosystem in Agersø Sund, and that they cannot comply with all environmental quality requirements. – Unfortunately, our technology does not make it possible to clean so thoroughly that we can comply with all the environmental quality requirements set out in the Danish legislation, says Leed Krøs. – It is correct that Agersø Sund does not have good environmental conditions, but in fact none of the inland waters in Denmark do. We have an impact, but the reason why we can have emissions in Agersø Sund is that our emissions are small. What affects the area most negatively is past overfishing, nutrient loading and a number of other things, explains Leed Krøs. There have been major protests against Slagelse municipality’s intention to renew the treatment plant’s environmental approval so that the business can continue dumping environmentally hazardous substances. According to environmental law experts, the Danish Environment Agency has approved the dumping of environmentally hazardous substances. Photo: Morten Fogde Christensen / DR May have been illegal DR has been given access to documents which show that the dumping of waste water may be illegal. The Danish Ministry of the Environment points out in an internal note that if the municipalities follow the Environmental Directorate’s guidance in the area, there is a significant risk that they will approve “illegal discharge of waste water”. Until now, the pumping of the waste water has taken place after an environmental approval from 2008, according to DR. New and stricter environmental requirements in Denmark mean that the discharge can only continue if the municipality creates a zone of 300 meters around the discharge pipe. Within this zone, the limit values can be exceeded. Outside the zone, the amount of lead, mercury and other harmful substances must not exceed the values. RGS Nordic replies to news that the company complies with the environmental requirements precisely thanks to the mixing zone. But the limits must already have been exceeded in Agersø Sund, also outside the zone. Then it should not be allowed to establish such a zone at all, says professor emeritus Ellen Margrethe Basse at Aarhus University to DR. The Danish authorities tell the channel that they have already carried out a thorough assessment of the discharge of waste water, but that they will now look at the matter once more. A fifth of RGS’s turnover on waste water management comes from Norwegian customers. The largest is Equinor’s oil refinery at Mongstad, according to Weekendavisen. Photo: Rodrigo Freitas / NTB – Can affect Norwegian oil This case can also have major consequences for the Norwegian oil industry, believes Frederic Hauge in Bellona. They could end up without a place to export their waste water if schemes like this are stopped. Norway has some treatment facilities, but it is far from enough to cover the need, he says. – It has been a problem for many years that the oil industry itself does not take responsibility for building up the necessary treatment capacity, says Hauge. In the extreme, it could lead to a stoppage of production in some fields, Hauge believes. – If there is now a stop to exporting this to Denmark, then it is self-inflicted that you end up in a very difficult situation. If necessary, production must be shut down until the treatment capacity is built up. It takes some time, says Hauge.
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Environmentally hazardous water is pumped into the sea – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
