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Of: TT
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1 of 4 | Photo: POLICE
Unlabeled amounts of rusty barrels, dangerous heavy metals, and hundreds of liters of cyanide-containing powder that had been stored in such a way that they could form lethal doses of hydrogen cyanide. Image of the preliminary investigation.
Today, the trial begins around what has been called one of Sweden’s most serious environmental crimes.
A man is accused of having several tons of hazardous waste for the environment in his workshop, not far from a residential area and a school, south of Jönköping.
The man in his 70s is now on trial in the Jönköping District Court for a serious environmental crime. He has been responsible and owner of a chrome workshop that, according to the accusation, stored chemical products in a defective way, dangerous for the environment and without control.
When the company went bankrupt in 2016, city health and environmental protection inspectors discovered leaks of acid and dangerous chemicals that were stored wide open, both inside and outside the company premises. Several tons of dangerous chemicals were also found in a hidden space in the property’s basement.
There were many unmarked rusty barrels, dangerous heavy metals, and several hundred liters of powder containing cyanide. It was, according to the indictment, “a contaminant that is harmful to human health, animals or plants.”
Deadly spread
“Substances containing cyanide have been stored in such a way that they could form hydrogen cyanide to a lethal degree. We take the risk of proliferation very seriously,” Chief Prosecutor Stefan Edwardson explained in connection with the indictment.
The company was not far from a residential area and a school and there was a risk of leakage into groundwater.
Experts from the National Forensic Center were called in and worked for several days at the site to map all the hazardous waste.
“When we were at the sampling site, we used full-coverage equipment and breathed oxygen in order to stay at the facility. Outside, several security zones were established where the sampled chemicals could be handled, ”says Josefin Månsson, an environmental crime investigator with the environmental crime group Police Region East in a press release.
Surveyed the site
The municipality had previously inspected the site on several occasions and noted deficiencies. However, not all toxic residues have been detected and no follow-up has been carried out to verify that deficiencies have been remedied.
In 2016, the municipality’s health and environmental protection office changed its routines to prevent something similar from happening again. In new routines, cases may not be closed before the gaps have been followed and addressed.
“We have hired three new COOs for the oversight units. In this way, the manager can provide better individual support to each inspector to create a safer inspection process, ”writes Hans Strid, head of the health and environmental protection office in a municipality news release.
The rehabilitation and demolition of the property has cost the municipality and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency more than 6 million SEK. Both the municipality and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency are claiming damages to the man.
Leave an explanation
During the next hearing, the man will try to give an explanation of why it has happened as it has happened, to the best of his ability.
– He admits environmental crimes and admits what the prosecutors accuse him of. But he believes it was negligent and does not believe the crime should be considered serious, the man’s lawyer, Andreas Grudemo, tells TT.
The trial will last nine days. And a verdict can be expected in early October at the earliest.
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