Everyone was surprised by the discovery of large quantities of amphetamine in digestate from co-manure digesters. It was therefore logical that the digesters were shut down, says Drenthe deputy Jisse Otter (BBB).
It is unlikely that the amphetamine was added to the manure as waste from drug production, as it turned out three months later. On Tuesday, the three provinces decided that the affected companies can resume production.
Law firms
“We had two law firms conduct research independently of each other,” says Groningen deputy Tjeerd van Dekken (PvdA). “Both offices conclude that legally this is manure, not waste. So farmers can simply grow it out.”
The 23 affected companies in Groningen, Drenthe and Friesland say they have suffered a lot of damage. The question then quickly arises as to who is liable for the damage suffered by the entrepreneurs in question.
‘Let the judge make a ruling’
“It often happens that the province or another government body such as the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority takes such a measure,” says Drenthe deputy Jisse Otter. “I then say: anyone who thinks he can recover the damage from us should hold us liable. Then the judge can make a ruling.”
Isn’t it better and faster to reach an arrangement through a conversation? “With a court decision we have a right to make compensation,” Otter responds.
Letter together with four municipalities
Otter: “After the Environment Agency made that amphetamine discovery, we investigated as quickly as possible. We had to have clarity about how that amount could be in the digestate. It quickly became plausible that it had nothing to do with drug production. Because no substances have been found that you need for or that are released during the production of amphetamine. You would find that exactly, the amphetamine itself is precisely the trade.”
But the provinces also had to put everything in order legally, says Otter. “We had to be sure that we can classify the digestate as manure again and not as waste. That’s why it took until early February before we could provide a definitive answer. But now we have made the same decision in the three northern provinces and now everyone knows where they stand.”
As far as the provinces are concerned, this is the end of the matter. Van Dekken points out that not all questions have been answered yet. “But that is up to the government. It must conduct further research into how amphetamine could have arisen and how all kinds of implementing agencies should deal with it in the future.”