The site of the former Air Filter Factory in Emmen has recently been cleaned up. According to the municipality of Emmen, the health risks are not too bad on closer inspection.
It was previously reported that various harmful substances would be present on the site, such as Formaldehyde, barium, toluene and asbestos. The groundwater would also be partly contaminated, which led to a construction and demolition stop and a ban on entering the site. These measures were intended to prevent health risks for local residents and employees.
Hessel Adema, who was involved with AAF as a commercial real estate agent and adviser, said earlier that it was not too bad with the health risks in the field. He had a new soil investigation carried out by Sigma Bouw & Milieu, of which the report of June 2021 actually shows other findings, and sent it to the municipality.
According to Adema, no pollution with formaldehyde was found, and there is no question of groundwater pollution. The most important contamination concerns mineral oil from a former diesel tank. All in all, it goes too small quantities that do not stand in the way of remediation.
The municipality confirms that it has received the report from Sigma Bouw & Milieu and that the risk assessment has been adjusted based on this. However, the municipality emphasizes that the recent start of asbestos remediation comes from a new asbestos inventory report and a recent visit to the site, and not just from the soil investigations.