Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (dpa/lsw) – In the dispute over costs of almost a quarter of a million euros for PFC tests, the city of Baden-Baden suffered a defeat before the administrative court in Karlsruhe. The municipality itself started the measures at the end of 2016, when the deadlines for the company responsible had not yet expired, the court announced on Tuesday. At the time it was not clear that the company would not have the investigations carried out itself. According to a spokesman, the city is checking whether to appeal the October 26 judgment at the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court in Mannheim.
The procedure is just one facet of an environmental scandal that has been affecting Mittelbad for years. By the end of 2008, the company concerned was said to have brought PFC-contaminated compost to fields primarily in Baden-Baden and the Rastatt district. The pollutants also got into the groundwater. PFC stands for perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemicals, which are harmful to health and hardly biodegradable in nature.
In the current case, the city of Baden-Baden had obligated the operator of composting plants to take various measures with different deadlines in 2016, including monitoring groundwater pollution. According to the court, the city also threatened to have the measures carried out at its own expense after a period of time had expired – which then happened. The city imposed the costs of around 245,000 euros on the company, which took legal action against it.
The sixth chamber did not object to the fact that the city ordered the investigations. The plaintiff is still to be regarded as the cause of the PFC pollution in the Sandweier district.
