NAM is no longer allowed to use well ROW4 near Rossum for injecting waste water that is released during the oil extraction in Schoonebeek. This has been determined by the State Supervision of Mines (SodM), RTV Oost reports. In addition to this injection well that has been decommissioned, it has already been decided to ban wastewater injection into two other wells.
By not using ROW4, NAM still has an injection well left in Twente. It is expected that it should become clear this summer whether injection of waste water in Twente is still safe. The NAM itself has previously announced that it wants to move the injection of waste water to the southeast of Drenthe, for example near Schoonebeek. This is also where oil extraction takes place, where the waste water is released.
In Twente, there has been discussion for years about injecting waste water into the soil. Opponents are afraid that the chemicals from the wastewater will end up in the groundwater. For example, one of the injection wells ruptured last year, while the NAM had already pumped liters of waste water into it. The Asser company should have discovered this rift much earlier, the SodM concluded. The oil company is still investigating the cause of the crack.