In the case of a Dioxin-Fund in a nature reserve in Hamburg has been measured an extremely high value of the highly toxic substance – which is reminiscent of the scandal of the chemical company Boehringer in the eighties.
In the so-called Boberg lowlands, the Hamburg environmental authority was 700 micrograms of Dioxin per kilogram of soil. Apparently, it is the highest concentration of the substance, which was previously measured in the Hamburg soil. The statutory limit is a micro-gram, children’s playgrounds, at 0.1 micrograms.
experts suggest that it is in the Fund is waste from the production of plant protection products, the company Boehringer. According to the previous findings, the residues of the poison could be reached in the sixties in the ground. On an aerial image from 1962, notes that in the area next to building rubble and excavated material illegal industrial waste disposed of has been could be found.
soil sample
The factory of Boehringer in Hamburg-Moorfleet was closed in 1984. On the grounds of self-dioxin quantities of 400 micro Aresbet were at the time, gram per Kilo proved.
“Heavy environment
Since the offense was” so far, only the result of a single measurement, it should be clear whether it was a one-off or large-scale pollution, said Environment Minister, Jens Kerstan (Green). The technical and time-consuming analysis of further samples had to be awaited. “In January we know how large the affected area is,” said the Senator. Regardless, it was due to “the very, very high value,” but now a “serious environmental crime”.
A four-acre area around the site is cordoned off since the middle of October. Also mushrooms and berries, and fish from two of the site to the nearby ponds, were investigated. Fishing is prohibited until Further notice. Dioxins enter the food into the body and accumulate in the fatty tissue. In high concentrations the substance is a carcinogen.
MORE on THE TOPIC of environmental scandals in Germany, What became of the Dioxin in the soil?
The sample had been taken in the context of regular soil testing, rather by chance, at this point, it said. “There has been no suspicion that there is a legacy could be,” said Kerstan.
the mid-eighties, had shocked a Dioxin scandal, the company Boehringer in Hamburg. Because the Dioxin could not be disposed of on the premises in Moorfleet, had to be sealed, the affected area over many years of consuming. The site is still considered today one of the most well-known Dioxin-Contaminated sites in Germany.
jme/dpa/AFP
