The municipality of Coevorden is investigating the pollution of the ground under the two rolled up drug labs in Dalen and Stieltjeskanaal. If the soil is indeed found to be heavily polluted, the remediation costs could amount to a total of more than a million euros. That bill is then sent to the violators.
The preliminary investigation itself will cost the municipality 60,000 euros.
Last year, on September 12, a drug lab was rolled up in an empty farm on the Eldijk in Dalen. Boilers containing raw materials for the production of amphetamine were found. If the soil turns out to be full of drug waste or residue, cleaning or disposing of it will cost a lot of money. The same applies to a plot on the Stieltjeskanaal, where the police found a drug lab on January 5 of this year. That lab was also used for the production of amphetamine (speed).
“The decontamination of these grounds cannot be done by every cleaning company,” the spokesperson for the municipality said. “That’s why something like this will incur costs. There is no danger to the environment, but if you start working with it or cleaning it up, it can be dangerous.”
The municipality expects the remediation costs for one building to be between 400,000 and 600,000 euros, and between 300,000 and 500,000 euros for the other. In the worst case, those costs amount to 1.1 million euros. However, that is not on the account of the municipality, “The costs of these remediations will be recovered from the violators”, the municipality writes. “In the meantime, steps have been taken to achieve seizure.”