Overview
- Staatsanwaltschaft Dortmund filed charges against a 59-year-old man with prior environmental convictions and a 57-year-old woman, identified as an operations head and a managing director of a haulage and waste firm.
- Investigators allege more than 125,000 tonnes of contaminated soil and other waste, including old catalytic converters, were deposited without permits at three locations in Selfkant, Erkelenz and Wassenberg.
- Breakdown reported by prosecutors: about 45,000 tonnes in Selfkant, 57,000 tonnes in Erkelenz and 23,500 tonnes in Wassenberg, with materials classified in landfill classes 2 and 3 and BM-F3 that require secured, approved sites.
- The case was brought to the environmental crimes chamber at the Dortmund regional court, and prosecutors sought asset recovery from the company equal to at least the estimated €6.5 million disposal cost.
- The indictments extend the 'Boden NRW' investigation targeting more than 40 suspects, built on raids that seized data and tens of thousands of suspected fake weigh cards, with related sites showing asbestos and PAK contamination and remediation preparations starting in Recklinghausen.