Mundelstrup, Denmark: the clean-up of a contaminated town

Poul Clement, Niels J. Olsen and Per Madsen

In 1987 it was established that there was serious contamination of the soil in a large housing and industrial area at Mundelstrup Stationsby west of the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The contamination, which was due to disposal of fill from a former fertiliser and sulphuric acid factory, consisted of the heavy metals lead and arsenic. Comprehensive investigations of the extent and impact of the contamination on the environment and on the approx. 30 families living in the area were immediately carried out.
The case has attracted great public attention and has, in many ways, been a model for the handling of similar cases which are gradually emerging in connection with the mapping of contaminated industrial sites by the environmental authorities.
In 1990, after having clarified the many financial, political and legal aspects, it was decided to carry out a clean-up/soil replacement project in the contaminated town. In the autumn of 1992, the case – seen from an environmental point of view – was closed after the execution of the largest remedial action project so far in Denmark. This article is a summary of the progress of the project.

3 (1) 1995

Updated: 09-Jun-2005