1/4 About thirty volunteers scour Joris Buijs’ pasture (photo: Imke van de Laar).
He was in sackcloth and ashes, dairy farmer Joris Buijs from Eten-Leur. On Monday there was a major fire at transport company Axell Logistics. There were 5,000 solar panels on the roof of that company. And during the fire they whirled down in small particles in his meadows. His 250 cows cannot go outside as a result. On Saturday, friends, family and neighbors came to help clean up the meadows.
“Open your arms and walk.” About thirty volunteers neatly comb the meadows of farmer Joris in a row. “Yes, that is with military precision,” he laughs. “Only then can you be sure that you have searched all the pieces of pasture.”
The search is necessary because pieces of plastic, insulation material and particles from solar panels ended up in the meadows during the major fire at Axell Logistics.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Friends, neighbors and especially relatives were ready early on Saturday, with boots on and a bucket in hand. Ben, an uncle of Joris, shows what is already in his bucket. “Especially soot particles and pieces of solar panels. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. But we’ll keep looking until we’ve been everywhere.”
Cousin Jeroen also enthusiastically joins in the search. “It is searching, searching, searching. But that is difficult because the grass is already high. I mainly look to see if I see glass or pieces of the solar panels. Because we really have to remove them. Those pieces are razor sharp, it is dangerous if a cow ingests it. But I don’t think we can get the pasture completely clean.”
Then Uncle Ben walks up again, with a razor-sharp piece of solar panel the size of his hand. “Look, we still find this here. If a cow ingests this, it won’t be okay.”
“I am hopeful that the cows will be able to go outside again next week.”
Farmer Joris is visibly happy with all the help. “We could never get this job done alone. Many hands make light work.”
A lot more people showed up than he expected. “I had sent a message asking who wanted to come and help. I had counted on about ten people. But thirty people came. Heartwarming.”
Joris is therefore hopeful that his pastures will be a lot cleaner again after the search. “I think we’ll have about five buckets full soon. Maybe if we walk around like this for another day, we’ll be able to pick up most of the junk. I hope the rest crushes or blows away. Maybe my cows will be able to then enjoy the outdoors.”
The enormous devastation after the major fire at Axell Logistics as seen from the air.
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