Denmark Struggles to Prevent Environmental Disaster from Contaminated Soil Landslide

Cleanup Responsibility Debated as Nordic Waste Declared Bankrupt Amid Massive Cleanup Effort

Authorities in Denmark are working to prevent a slow-moving landslide of contaminated soil from reaching a nearby water source.
The landslide, which started on Dec. 10, is occurring at the Nordic Waste reprocessing plant and contains soil contaminated with heavy metals and oil products.
Nordic Waste gave up on controlling the landslide nine days after it started, leaving the task to the Randers Municipality.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency declared Nordic Waste bankrupt after it ordered the company to provide security of more than $29.2 million to prevent an environmental disaster.
There is ongoing debate about who should pay for the cleanup, with the government criticizing Denmark’s sixth-richest man, Torben Østergaard-Nielsen, who is behind Nordic Waste, for not paying.