National park river contaminated with PCBs is cleaned up after years
Published: Wednesday, Mar 6th 2024, 13:50
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The Spöl National Park River, which was contaminated with carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during a power plant overhaul in 2016, can finally be cleaned up. All parties involved, including the Swiss National Park, have agreed on a solution.
The canton of Graubünden has approved the joint remediation agreement, the Swiss National Park, together with the Engadine power plants and three environmental associations, announced on Wednesday. The remediation of the oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls is expected to begin in 2026.
The aim is to remove PCB-containing fine sediment from the riverbed over a length of three kilometers. The river will be dredged for this purpose. The fine material is then mechanically separated from the coarser gravel and stone fractions. The contaminated fine material is thermally disposed of and the cleaned material is returned to the river bed.
The particularly polluted stilling basin below the Punt dal Gall dam on Lago di Livigno is also being completely cleaned for a second time. The 60-metre-long basin was the only section of the river to be cleaned back in 2017.
The lower section of the Spöl is also flushed with targeted artificial floods. The 2.5-kilometre stretch showed only very low levels of PCB contamination during measurements in 2022.
Financing still unclear
It is still unclear who will bear the costs of the renovation. The canton of Graubünden will make a second decision on this. Engadiner Kraftwerke has agreed to pre-finance the renovation until then.
PCBs were used as plasticizers in paints, sealants and plastics until the 1980s. It is now banned worldwide. In 2016, the chemical leaked into the Spöl during renovation work on the Engadin power plant dam. The PCB was deposited in the stream sediments over a length of five kilometers.
©Keystone/SDA
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