One of the parliamentary questions targeted what articles on Reporter.lu and in Luxemburger Wort had dubbed a "phantom disposal site" in Sanem. Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg explained that her reply was based on the hypothesis that the alleged Sanem dump in fact referred to the "Wawerbësch" disposal site.
A month ago, employees of Luxembourg's environmental administration detected a water discharge in the middle of the disposal site. Steel giant ArcelorMittal had called them to carry out pollution tests. According to the minister, it will only be possible to assess the situation and potential risks once the test results are out.
The municipalities of Differdange and Sanem already expressed their fears in December 2017 when talks arose of a disposal site for steel and inert waste. Last month, the Cloos company announced that they had started to conduct environmental impact studies. The landfill site is currently not being monitored by the national environmental administration. New analyses have been requested. The administration said that the water at the site seemed to contain elevated levels of salt and arsenium, which could indicate the presence of slag.
Regarding a potential illegal dump in Rédange, the minister explained that the French authorities had not yet contacted their Luxembourgish counterparts. She nevertheless conceded that the environmental administration had been aware of illegal fly-tipping on the border region. Thorough checks have been planned to counter this worrying trend. A first check has been carried out a month ago, the minister explained.
Luxembourg's water authority is keeping a close eye on the Alzette river near "Rouder Lëns" to prevent environmental damages and a potential pollution of the river. The minister stressed that it was up to the French authorities to take a decision regarding the disposal of waste.
Carole Dieschbourg stressed that there was no slag dump in Differdange. According to online platform Reporter.lu, the "Crassier" site used to dispose of toxic waste does not have the correct authorisations. The minister explained that the site in question belonged to the Hadir / ARBED steel factory, which operates on territories of the municipalities of Differdange and Sanem. The site comprises several parts. An assessment of the landfill site belonging to ArcelorMittal began in 2017. This evaluation needs to be completed before potential authorisation procedures can be launched, the minister explained. She added that the company currently does not have an authorisation for the temporary storage of steel waste on their site.
On 21 January, the operator was urged to file an authorisation request by 21 July. A consultation meeting took place at the Ministry for the Environment on 10 February. This meeting resulted in the creation of a new committee that will meet regularly under the coordination of the environmental administration.
