Pharmaceutical industry Environmentalists criticize plans for Lonza toxic waste landfill site
Several environmental organizations are criticizing the plans of the chemical company Lonza to build a sealing wall at the toxic waste landfill site in Gamsenried near Brig VS. However, despite considerable omissions, they do not intend to lodge an objection.
08.04.2025, 08:24
SDA
Lonza wants to build a sealing wall so that fewer pollutants leak out of the toxic waste landfill. These pollute the groundwater below the landfill with carcinogenic benzidine, among other things, far above the limit values, as the Doctors for Environmental Protection, the Upper Valais Group for Environment and Transport, Pro Natura and the WWF jointly announced on Tuesday.
The organizations consider it urgent to stop the discharge of the heavily contaminated water. However, it is not certain that the wall is sufficiently impermeable, they added. In addition, Lonza did not take enough account of the enormous variety of pollutants in the landfill.
The former landfill site in Gamsenried is the largest contaminated landfill site in Switzerland and is to be completely remediated in one to two generations.
