Safeguards and Remedies — A Basis for Decisions on Major Projects in Eastern Germany, and for their Realisation

Abstract

Over the years, approaches to the treatment of neglected deposits of toxic waste have changed considerably. Generally speaking, from the time the systematic treatment of such sites began in the early 1980’s (in Germany, “the toxic waste era” had begun in 1983 with the discovery of dioxin in the Georgswerder district of Hamburg) until 1992, the detection of a specific hazard potential provided the basis for any decision on cleaning up the pollution. The main problem was seen as the concentration of pollutant in the total soil sample. Thus when dealing with residual toxic pollution, most attention was given to the soil, with less emphasis being placed on groundwater. The numerous lists developed to help make decisions on cleaning sites up are proof of this basic philosophy. Clean-up aims were addressed by the question “how clean is clean?”. Treatment in the sense of decontamination came to the fore, i.e., clean-ups were normally based on the principle of precaution. That meant a measure that could be applied in the establishment of new sites or in the use of materials and products in the environment in order to avoid lasting, detrimental changes to environmental media. There was no call for problem solutions in the form of protective measures.