Eternal chemicals – PFAS remediation: This is what it says in your canton – Kassenrutsch Espresso

Author:

Felicitas Flohr, Maj-Britt Horlacher

14.01.2025, 06:01

It was an expensive surprise for the city of Uster (ZH): the subsoil beneath the Riedikon fire brigade training center is contaminated with harmful chemicals. Training here used to be done with firefighting foam containing PFAS.

To replace the dilapidated fire house, this means that 2,000 tons of earth must be cleaned before a new one can be built. Six grams of PFAS were removed from the ground, which caused additional costs of at least 600,000 francs. “That’s a significant amount for us,” says the community’s head of security.

Exclusive survey among the cantons

Uster is by no means an isolated case. PFAS are chemical substances that are water and fat repellent and are therefore widely used in industry. PFAS can be toxic and get into soil and water in a variety of ways: for example, through wastewater from factories or when using ski wax or firefighting foam, which previously often contained PFAS. This is why there is similar PFAS contamination to that in Uster at dozens of fire training areas throughout Switzerland. But also under industrial areas, landfills and fields that were previously fertilized with sewage sludge.

Now an exclusive survey by SRF Investigativ and Kassenjagd shows: How much is known about PFAS pollution and how much has already been remedied varies greatly from canton to canton.

What is noticeable: cantons that have already had individual cases of high PFAS contamination appear to be more aware. For example, Geneva (at the former Les Vernets barracks site), St. Gallen (Altstätten regional prison) and Ticino (landfill near the Ceneri tunnel) have carried out PFAS remediation. These cost the cantons tens of millions of francs.

In order to determine which sites should be cleaned of PFAS in the future and how much it will ultimately cost, two things are needed: Firstly, limit values ​​for the chemicals. The Federal Office for the Environment is currently working on this. On the other hand, more data on where which soils and waters are polluted and to what extent. In addition to individual efforts by the cantons, this year the federal government, together with the Association of Cantonal Chemists, will, among other things, test meat, fish and eggs throughout Switzerland for PFAS.

EFK calls for better monitoring

The Federal Audit Office (SFAO) expresses clear criticism: The federal government generally does not have a complete overview of where which substance occurs and in what concentration. “This makes it difficult for him to take targeted measures,” says Eveline Hügli from the EFK. The federal authorities would have to invest more here, according to the principle “Prevention is better than cure.”

The EFK’s criticism is also directed at the industry: Today, the general public usually pays for damage, either the owners of the affected piece of land or the public sector. Hügli says in an interview with SRF: It would be important in the future that “manufacturers and importers also have to contribute financially to the damage.”

The Scienceindustries trade association, which represents companies from the chemical industry, among others, views the EFK’s recommendation “rather critically, as long as there is no better understanding of the causes and emission paths.” The association also fears that such a regulation would lead to “excessive bureaucracy and control,” which would drive up product prices.