The fecal bacteria in the Meppel canal that thwarted the Meppel City Swim in 2023 does not come from the historic ship De Vereeniging III on the Stoombootkade. The judge drew this conclusion today in a case before the Council of State. What the source of the fecal bacteria (E. coli) is remains unclear.
In 2021, local resident Martin Daling could not have imagined that he would still be fighting with the municipality of Meppel in 2025 about the quality of the water in the canal opposite his house. He swims and paddles in it and he wants the water to be clean. It’s not that, he knows. “Unbelievable, but the municipality does nothing about it,” Daling said today at the Council of State.
Back to 2021. Daling believes he has the right to clean bathing water. The water was contaminated with fecal bacteria and he had to start somewhere to expose this. That is why he asked the municipality of Meppel to take action against Karin and Arco Woudenberg of De Vereeniging. This historic ship would discharge waste water into the canal.
Woudenberg did not thank the Daling. It has cost the couple a lot of money and created a bad image about them. “We have large tanks on board and do not discharge anything into the water,” said Woudenberg. The ship is also connected to the sewer. The source of the pollution must be further away.
According to the municipality of Meppel, Daling is not an interested party in water quality and cannot force the municipality to take action. To get things moving, Daling went to the Northern Netherlands court. The court found that he is an interested party.
Instead of the municipality of Meppel doing something with this court ruling, Meppel appealed to the Council of State. There the municipality met a judge who did not hide his irritations. Meppel wants an answer from the highest administrative court as to whether Daling is an interested party and whether the municipality is competent in this enforcement case.
Judge Ten Veen was not looking for that. It would be a lot of work for nothing. Because left or right, the Drents Overijsselse Delta water board is authorized to decide on the enforcement request. “Why don’t you withdraw the appeal,” the judge asked. That didn’t happen. At least, not yet. The municipality will provide clarity about this in two weeks.
Daling is assisted by Geert Starre, who has often gone to court in nature and environmental cases. Starre thinks it is unacceptable that Meppel does not want to take action and continues to get stuck in formalities about interests and authority. ”Why doesn’t the municipality consult with the water board? The bottom line in this case is that the burden of proof is on the citizen,” he said.
Because Meppel is still deliberating, it is not clear whether the Council of State will make a ruling and thus make it clear whether Daling is an interested party.