1/2 Farmer Jos is given a helping hand by Peter Martens’ ‘grass vacuum cleaner’ (photo: Raymond Merkx).
Just a little while and then the cows in Etten-Leur can go back to pasture. Since the fire at Axell Logistics, tens of hectares of land are full of glass particles from the solar panels. But the farmers no longer have to collect them themselves. A company has come to the rescue and a large vacuum cleaner is now cleaning the meadows at a rapid pace.
Farmer Jos Pijs walks through the barn with a bucket full of feed. His cows have been indoors for more than three weeks because the pasture is full of glass particles and burnt insulation material. “Each particle is too much,” says Jos. “If that ends up in the stomach, inflammation can occur and the cow can die.”
The animals were therefore brought in immediately after the fire. Jos started the monster job to get his land chip-free, but grabbing the miniscule particles out of the long grass turned out to be painstaking work. “I spent six hours on a plot of about two hectares. And then it wasn’t all gone yet. That was impossible,” says Jos.
“They drive over it a few times and then there is almost nothing left in the meadow.”
Fortunately, Peter Martens and his brothers from Oudenbosch came to the rescue. They have a contracting and earthworks company and developed a mega vacuum cleaner within a week after the fire that can suck up the waste faster and more accurately. “We soon saw that suction power was the only way to solve the pollution,” says Peter Martens. “It had to be done quickly and so we ended up with this.”
The pasture is cleaned with a large suction machine attached to a tractor. “The squeegee draws in the grass. All contamination that ends up in the hose is then sucked up and collected in the container,” he explains. “This saves me so much work,” says Jos. “They drive over it a few times and then there is almost nothing left in the meadow.”
“Cows belong outside, that’s nature.”
Five hectares of pasture have already been cleared at Jos’s. “At the end of next week, my cows will probably be able to go back to pasture,” says Jos enthusiastically. “That makes me happy. Cows belong outside, that’s nature.”
The men of Martens then have to work hard. Because they still have to clean 300 hectares of pasture. “Yes, we are still busy”, Peter concludes. But at least it goes a lot faster than by hand.
The devastation after the fire was enormous, as can be seen on these drone images.