Nature organizations lose case over Zandvoort fan zone circuit
Nature organizations have again lost a lawsuit over the Zandvoort race track, where the Dutch Grand Prix will be held in a week and a half. This time the foundations Duinbehoud and Rust bij de Kust had filed a case about the use of polluted sand in the construction of the so-called fan zone, which is located on the edge of the circuit. The Council of State rejected their demands.
The foundations had argued that the top layer of the sand used contained too high concentrations of PFAS. This category includes chemicals that are barely degradable and are harmful to people and the environment after a certain exposure. A specialized company had taken several samples. In some of these, higher concentrations were found than permitted by law. Other samples, on the other hand, contain significantly lower concentrations of PFAS than may. Specifically, it concerned the substance PFOS.
The province of Noord-Holland refused to comply with the organizations’ request to intervene. A correct decision, the Supreme Administrative Court now judges. The sand was mixed and the provincial government has “made it sufficiently plausible” that it could not be expected that the batch of sand as a whole would not meet the standards after that mixing.