Drug dumping is almost part of the cultural heritage in Brabant, we have become so familiar with it. How dangerous is that waste? What damage does it do? How do you clean it up? We asked the Noord-Brabant Environment Agency, which coordinates the removal of drug waste.
In all colors of the rainbow, mostly in blue, jerry cans with drug waste are lying around in our province. Left behind by drug gangs running mind-altering and stimulant pills in labs. They usually use a secluded spot, often a nature reserve, to discharge excess substances. Free and for nothing, so that the profit margins are even higher. It is an illegal multi-million dollar industry that exports to the whole world.
Arie Peters, area manager of the Brabant North Environment Agency (ODBN), takes a deep breath. “We see 25 to 30 percent of all dumping. That means the rest disappears into thin air. That worries us greatly.”
Danger to the environment and people
If drug waste is released at a dumping site, for example if jerry cans start to leak, plant and animal life will die. It takes years for nature to recover. Peters has clear advice for casual passers-by: “Keep your distance with the wind at your back. Inhaling these hazardous substances can seriously affect the respiratory tract and even be fatal.”
And not only that. Peters points to an incident in which playing children cycled through water puddles at a dump site. They turned out to be contaminated with corrosive liquids. “Their feet were covered in burns. Those are risks you don’t want to take. Virtually every dumping is dealt with immediately, without a pause.”
Peters: “Because production processes of drug laboratories can always differ, it is extremely difficult to find out exactly which substances are in the waste. So you would have to take and examine an awful lot of samples for each dumping. As a result, the waste is often not examined but immediately removed.”
Number of dumpings
Before the corona period, ODBN sometimes had to turn out three to four times a week for a drug dumping. Usually between March and October. ODBN has no explanation for this. Peters: “The majority of the pills go abroad, it is not tied to the festival season.” In 2019, the ODNB spent 300 hours coordinating the cleanup work. In 2020 that was 200 hours. Although the number of dumpings may continue to fall, production continues unabated, according to Peters. “But the dumpings are becoming more and more inventive.”
Examples too many. He points to the drug pit in the Brabantse Wal nature reserve. Or a slurry cellar in Someren. “They even go to the car wash with a van to dump their waste there. And when it rains, they drive around with large barrels that they drain through a hole in the bottom of their vehicle. For example, a kilometer-long track has been found around Nijmegen.”
Cost
The above shows how many people, services and hours are involved in clearing drug waste. According to Peters, the total cost of an average drug dump is about 12,500 euros. “With outliers of more than a ton,” he adds. In principle, the landowner bears the costs.
Peters has reservations about this. “If you hold private individuals liable, you encourage them not to report themselves and to dump the waste elsewhere. You really don’t want that.” That is why it is usually municipalities or nature organizations that pay. Of the costs, they can get a maximum of 25,000 euros back from the government.
This is how drug waste is cleaned up:
- The production of 1 kilo of drugs produces approximately 18 to 24 liters of drug waste. It contains acid (hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and formic acid), solvents (acetone) and bases (caustic soda). All dangerous to health and harmful to the environment.
- The fire brigade is the first to respond to a report to secure the location. This is done with compressed air masks and protective clothing. If jerry cans leak, they are packed in large sealable barrels.
- If the dump site is safe, the forensics will investigate.
- A soil pollution company specialist conducts research. In the event of leaks, the contaminated soil is excavated and taken to a storage facility.
- The ODBN engages a recognized company that transports and processes all hazardous substances. Usually this is Strukton, Wilchem and sometimes Van Gansewinkel.
- Liquid waste becomes harmless after a chemical separation process; a matter of dewatering, distilling, detoxifying, neutralizing or incinerating. The sand or clay is purified by evaporation, rinsing and the use of bacteria.