The treatment of polluted sites linked to the industrial past of Valais continues in Haut-Valais. Here one of the sectors of the Gamsenried landfill (archives).
Photo: Keystone/ANDREA SOLTERMANN
The former Gamsenried landfill (VS), located between Visp and Brig-Glis, should be completely remediated within one to two generations. To achieve this, a first step was announced on Monday with the construction of a waterproof wall on the site by 2027.
This wall should make it possible ‘to protect the water table downstream of the landfill in the long term’, explained the head of the environment department, Christine Genolet-Leubin, at a press conference. It will further reduce – by almost 100% – the flow of polluted groundwater outside the landfill.
This is a ‘decisive’ step, because by improving this security, we will be able to begin the clean-up phase of the most polluted area of the site without risk’, adds Anton Aeby, director of the environment sector of the Lonza SA site at Visp.
The ‘L’-shaped wall will be built between the highway and the railway tracks over a length of 1.3 kilometers, supporting the existing hydraulic barrier. It will be 80 centimeters wide and 30 to 32 meters deep.
For the record, the Lonza company deposited waste from chemical production in the Gamsenried landfill between 1918 and 1978. Listed in the cantonal register of polluted sites, the old landfill was classified in 2011 as a contaminated site requiring remediation.
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