Residents of Groningen and Drenthe have been paying for discharges of polluted water in the Wadden area for years.
For example, residents of the Hunze and Aa’s water board appear to pay for almost half of the costs of the ‘lubrication pipe’ with which Groningen companies discharge their waste water into the Eems, Dollard and ultimately into the Wadden Sea.
The Veenkoloniale Afvalwaterleiding (VKA), as the pipe is officially called, is owned by Hunze en Aa’s. Between 2011 and 2022, the water board spent 4.3 million euros on usage and maintenance costs. The five companies that use the pipeline exclusively contributed only 2.3 million euros. The residents of Hunze and Aa’s paid the remaining 2 million through the water board tax.
The VKA costs lead to endless discussions between the discharging companies, the Hunze and Aa’s water board and the province of Groningen. After at least eight years of consultation, it has still not been decided exactly how the bill should be divided. The direct consequence is that a large part of the costs has been borne by residents of Groningen and Drenthe for years.
What do you think? Do all companies that use the ‘lubrication pipe’ have to pay the same amount to discharge waste? Or does that task lie with the water board, as owner of the Hunze and Aa’s water board? Give your opinion and participate in the Statement of the day.