In an application to the Norwegian Environment Agency, Oslo municipality has asked to be allowed to cover and decorate the landfill on Langøyne instead of cleaning it up.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency protests.
Covering up is no solution – remediation is required
An essentially cover-up approach to the Langøy Islands goes against what the NMF believes are the right signals to send to the population in terms of being able to be safe for the future in terms of exposure from pollution and environmental toxins. The Langøyene landfill is 100 years old and is located in the middle of the largest recreational area in Norway, the Oslofjord, where close to a million people make use of the nature and environment of the fjord to varying degrees throughout the year. It will therefore be completely wrong to go for a solution where the pollution is mainly left behind. There are no guarantees that leaks and spreading cannot take place. Considering the age of the landfill, one does not know what is hidden either. (1901-1948, period of operation)
NMF suspects Oslo municipality, which had a surplus of 900 million during the budget proceedings in December 2018, of not prioritizing the environmental issue high enough when it comes to the fjord and what is below sea level.
The government and our leading politicians must stop poisoning the population via disused and built-up landfills and avoid the same mistake that was made by burning hospital waste. The environmental toxins that are in closed Norwegian landfills must be taken care of in a controlled manner and a long-term investment is needed where the framework is already being laid now for the years to come, the letter states.
Read the letter to the Norwegian Environment Agency and the government here.
(The letter was also an inquiry about investments in landfills in Norway amounting to NOK 10-20 billion.)
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