On the seabed in the Oslo Fjord, green sea plants are suffocated by slimy algae. Cod and mussels are gone in many places. The problems are due, among other things, to large emissions of nitrogen from the sewage treatment plants, researchers have determined. Trådalgen lurv has taken over areas in the Oslofjord. Recently, Moss became the first town in the outer Oslofjord to be required to build a new and much more advanced treatment plant that removes much of the nitrogen. The city believes this requirement will make the treatment plant more than half a billion kroner more expensive. And it is the citizens who have to pay. But also in several valleys hundreds of kilometers away from the fjord, people can get the bill for the same type of facility. This was announced in a letter from the Norwegian Environment Agency and to the state administrators in May this year. Got a clear signal: Extensive urban areas in Eastern Norway must expect demands for better sewage treatment, says Gunhild Dalaker Tuseth at the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken. Photo: Hege Heløe – Within extensive dense settlements in the catchment area of the Oslofjord, the municipalities must expect to receive demands for nitrogen purification of the waste water, says department director Gunhild Dalaker Tuseth at the state administrator in Oslo and Viken. Up to Røros in the north She explains that the catchment area is very large and stretches up to Røros in Trøndelag, westwards towards Hardangervidda and down to Southern Norway. The background for the requirement is that emissions to the Oslo Fjord also come with the rivers, of which the Glomma is a worst case. A map news has received from the Norwegian Environment Agency shows 50 places in Eastern Norway that may require nitrogen purification. Among the treatment plants marked are Tynset, Elverum, Otta, Bø, Geilo and Kongsberg. The Norwegian Environment Agency’s map shows places above a certain size that may be required to build nitrogen purification plants, which are very expensive. Photo: Norwegian Environment Agency The price of the treatment plants will depend on the size. That cities up to 30 miles away from the fjord have to pay for the algae problems south of Oslo is not obvious to everyone. – Lågen is not bad Mayor of Kongsberg, Kari Anne Sand. Photo: Per Håkon Solberg / news – It is the cities closest to the Oslofjord that emit the most. I would say that the further you get from the Oslofjord, the less you are to blame for the problems, says the mayor of Kongsberg, Kari Anne Sand (Sp). Her mayor-colleague in Elverum has not heard about the case when news calls. – Of course I get worried. Over half a billion kroner is a huge amount when we in the municipality have a budget of 1.7 billion kroner, says Lillian Skjærvik (Ap). Elverum mayor Lillian Skjærvik is concerned about what an expensive sewage treatment plant can do to the municipality’s economy. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news From Elverum to Glomma’s outlet at Fredrikstad it is more than 20 miles and the mayor has difficulty understanding that their emissions make the big difference. From Kongsberg to the outlet of Numedalslågen at Larvik, it is over nine miles. Mayor Kari Anne Sand says Kongsberg and the neighboring municipalities have done a lot to prevent pollution of the waterway. – The lid is quite clean when it runs out. At least it is past Kongsberg, she says. Whether Kongsberg will receive notice from the state to pay out for nitrogen purification has not been determined. The state administrator and the municipality are in talks about the matter. Demand for a share The municipalities by the Oslofjord have demanded that the government put up part of the money that nitrogen purification will cost. But the demand has been rejected by Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap). Treatment plants are paid for using the self-cost principle – which means that residents pay what it costs to build and operate through the water and sewerage tax. Oslo and several municipalities in the inner Oslofjord have modern treatment plants that remove nitrogen from the sewage. Now a large number of places can be ordered to do the same. Photo: Tone Spieler / Water and Wastewater Agency The Kongsberg mayor hopes she will not have to send out a huge bill to the residents. – After all, the Oslofjord belongs to the whole nation, and then perhaps more people should contribute if the requirement is as suggested by the Norwegian Environment Agency, she concludes.
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Must build deer treatment plant to save the Oslofjord – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
