Environmental scandal on Lake Constance – Part 2

It seemed as if everything was on the table: in the winter of 2020/21, two weeks at the branch of the International Chemical Group Amcor Flexibles in Goldach resigned twice. He got into Lake Constance unfiltered. The St.Gallen public prosecutor saw a number of misconduct and imposed a bus of CHF 5,000.

So much has been known since February 2022. However, the files of the St.Gallen authorities, which argued this newspaper before the Federal Court, show that not all the company pollution was lost. The extinguishing foam, which contained harmful PFAS chemicals, landed not only in Lake Constance, but also in large quantities in the Zurich lower reaches.

The two incidents occurred on December 29, 2020 and January 13, 2021. In both, a considerable amount of extinguishing foam occurred, which was diluted as a waste water into the environment. The files of the St.Gallen authorities to do this remain incomplete. But they deliver some important numbers.

A total of well over 300 cubic meters of diluted extinguishing foam occurred in both incidents. In addition to the 60 cubic meters that flowed together into Lake Constance, a total of over 300 cubic meters of wastewater gained in the retention basin on the AMCOR site in both incidents. You should have prevented further pollution. However, due to the behavior of Amcor, the danger to the environment was not banned.

Balthasar Thalmann, the responsible department head at the Zurich Awel, provides this newspaper. In a first step, the Awel made sure from the waste disposal company whether this had carried out the order according to the prescription. The false coding of the waste water was not his fault. After that, it did not follow the incident. Thalmann says: «At that time we raised the question of an investigation. With the knowledge that an investigation is underway in the canton of St.Gallen, we saw no need for action. »

There would have been a need for action in the event of acute pollution if there had been a fish extinction. «We have a piket service for such cases. But the water pollution was not obvious. » But Pfas chemicals are tricky, they have a long time harmful.

Thur pollution has no consequences for Amcor

Today Thalmann and his team would probably act differently, as he says. Pfas’s perception has changed in recent years. « For a long time we didn’t have these fabrics on the radar, now you can tell how big the challenge is, » says Thalmann with a view to the Pfas debates of the past year.

Even if the Awel had filed a complaint, legal questions have asked: « There are no entry limit values ​​for PFOS and PFAS in general, » says Thalmann. « There are no clear legal foundations that would be necessary for good execution. » The office recognized the problem: « This is a gap that, in our opinion, has to be tackled. »

Despite the request, the St.Gallen office has not received the Amcor disposal order to date. The St.Gallen public prosecutor did not deal with the illegal recoding of disposal. In any case, the maximum buses of CHF 5,000 had already been reached with the other offenses from Amcor. A higher amount of punishment would have meant a more complex procedure using other law articles. It never happened.