Envi­ron­men­tal toxins near air­port must be remo­ved

The for­mer fire­drill area near Sval­bard air­port clo­se to Lon­gye­ar­by­en has been a mat­ter of con­flict for years. The area is con­ta­mi­na­ted with “per- and poly­fluo­ro­al­kyl sub­s­tances” or short PFAS, which come as part of fire extin­gu­is­hing foam which was used in lar­ge quan­ti­ties on the fire­drill area over years. PFAS is harmful to both health and envi­ron­ment and it is hard­ly bro­ken own under natu­ral con­di­ti­ons. Hence, once released it stays in the envi­ron­ment for very long and it accu­mu­la­tes in the food chain.

The fire­drill area in ques­ti­on was aban­do­ned 24 years ago, but PFAS con­cenc­tra­ti­on levels in the soil are still high. Some of the con­ta­mi­na­ted soil was remo­ved in 2023, but more remains and fur­ther clean-up has been mat­ter of legal and public dis­pu­te for a long time. Avi­nor, the Nor­we­gi­an com­pa­ny that runs the air­port (and other ones in Nor­way), argued that effort and cos­ts are too high. But now, the Nor­we­gi­an minis­try for cli­ma­te and envi­ron­ment has deci­ded that the clean-up must be com­ple­ted.

Part of the con­ta­mi­na­ted soil near the hor­se riding cent­re clo­se to Lon­gye­ar­by­en air­port was remo­ved in August 2023.

Avi­nor has bud­get­ed 25 mil­li­on kro­ner (about 2.1 mil­li­on Euro) for the cle­a­nup pro­ject. Work is sche­du­led to start in August, accor­ding to Sval­bard­pos­ten.

Jørn Dyb­dahl, for­mer owner of the hor­se riding cent­re clo­se to Lon­gye­ar­by­en air­port, died in 2023 from can­cer. Dyb­dahl hims­elf suspec­ted the PFAS con­ta­mi­na­ti­on to be the reason for his fatal ill­ness.

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