Meuse River polluted by leak from abandoned factory in Belgian Province of Liège

© set.sj via Unsplash

A major pollution incident was detected in the Meuse River on Tuesday near Wanze, a municipality in the Belgian province of Liège.

Tar or hydrocarbons have entered the river over a stretch of approximately three to four kilometers, according to the Belgian news agency Belga.

The suspected source is an abandoned factory in Andenne, where a tank containing a tar-like liquid leaked into the Meuse River via the sewer system. Barriers have been placed in the river, and the cleanup will take several more weeks. According to initial indications, children on the abandoned factory grounds may have opened the tank’s valve, allowing the substance to flow out.

“We were able to identify a location, namely the former Jumatt site in Andenne, and more specifically a large cylindrical tank about ten meters high, from which a viscous liquid—a type of tar—leaked,” said Nicolas Yernaux, spokesperson for the Wallonia Public Service (SPW), on the French-language television station RTBF. "This liquid contaminated the soil and subsequently entered a utility tunnel containing a whole network of pipes, eventually ending up in the Meuse River."

The disaster has triggered a major cleanup operation involving the fire department, civil defense, and environmental police. Shipping traffic on the Meuse was temporarily halted, and no fish deaths were reported.

The affected section of the river and its banks must be cleaned up. This work is complicated by the fact that part of the banks is difficult to access and may take weeks to complete.

Illustration: © set.sj via Unsplash