The Dutch state believes that the American chemical company 3M should compensate the damage it has caused in the Westerschelde by emitting harmful PFAS. Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management, VVD) wrote this on Tuesday in a letter to the company.
The 3M chemical plant has long been infamous. It is located in Belgium, near Antwerp and has for years discharged PFAS into the Scheldt via waste water. The province of Zeeland has received 28 reports from entrepreneurs who say they have suffered economic damage from the substances. It remains to be investigated for which part of the PFAS pollution 3M is responsible.
Last year, the RIVM advised to eat as little fish, shrimps, mussels and oysters from the Western Scheldt as possible due to high concentrations of PFAS. There is yet to be a price tag on the detrimental impacts to the ecosystem and economy caused by 3M.
PFAS, a collective name for more than six thousand types of plastics and microplastics, is on a list of ‘potential substances of very high concern’ by the RIVM. The group of substances can have a negative effect on the environment and health. For example, they can accumulate in the human body and damage the immune system, among other things. They enter the environment through the air or through the wastewater from factories that use these substances. Eventually they can also end up in drinking water and food in small quantities.
Read also: A chemical factory discharges harmful PFAS into the Western Scheldt – and has a perpetual permit to do so