Milieudefensie Eindhoven calls on the municipality to sharpen the permit for the ‘noise area’ at the Landsardplas. The action group suspects that the highly raised PFOS values (PFOS is a chemical that is harmful to people and nature) in the water are partly caused by combustion engines of speedboats, cross engines and karts.
The Landsardplas contains 117 Nanogram Pfos per liter, according to research from the water board. That is no less than 270 times more than the norm. That value is also considerably higher than those in nearby waters such as the Ekkersrijt and the surrounding ditches. Because the lake is in open connection with these waters, Milieudefensie suspects that there is a local source of pollution.
According to the action group, the contamination also affects the Oirschotse Heide, where the Ministry of Defense performed fire exercises on 22 and 24 July. In addition, large water bags (also called Bambi Buckets) filled with water from the Landsardplas and above the heathland were emptied with Chinook helicopters.
Drastic
“Not practicing puts the Oirschotse Heide in danger because of the fire, and practicing is in danger because of the PFOS,” the action group writes in a letter to the mayor and aldermen of Eindhoven. “The dilemma is only soluble if the water of the Landsardplas becomes drastically cleaner.”
In the letter, Milieudefensie proposes to considerably limit the permit for the recreation and motorsport site. The municipality must give the companies compensation for this, according to the environmental activists.
Defense has already been informed of the concerns of Milieudefensie. Michel van Kartcircuit ‘De Landsard’ says he is unknown in a response with this letter. “The lake has already been polluted by the Ministry of Defense itself,” said the entrepreneur.