Denmark let chemical factory pump excessive levels of toxins into sea, report says

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CN) — Critics say the Danish Ministry of Environment put business ahead of environmental safety after investigations revealed the agency granted agrichemical producer Cheminova permission to dump more contaminants into the sea in 2020, despite already exceeding European Union limits on toxins.

Cheminova, a Danish firm owned by the American FMC Corporation that makes agricultural chemicals and pesticides, has for decades allowed wastewater with arsenic and mercury to flow into the waters around the Harboøre Tange peninsula between the Limfjord and Western Sea, reports say.

In May, national broadcaster DR published a selection of internal ministry documents from 2020 showing how “a number of Danish production and supply companies face challenges obtaining or renewing environmental licenses under the Environmental Protection Act, as they clash with the Water Framework Directive’s rules for discharging environmentally dangerous substances.”

The Ministry of Environment is accused of adapting national regulations to fit Cheminova’s needs to allow the company to continue operations.

DR found that in 2021, the government revised official rules to allow Cheminova and other factories to pump already heavily contaminated wastewater into so-called “mixing zones” of first a 100-meter- and then a 350-meter-radius from outflow pipes. In addition, the ministry granted a 5% exceedance of the limit for toxic substances.

A mixing zone is the area in the sea surrounding a wastewater discharge pipe. Within the zone, a company can exceed limits ​​for hazardous substances; outside the zone, strict limits apply. With a larger mixing zone, more seawater dilutes any chemicals in the wastewater, so companies can discharge more toxins.

The ministry argued as late as January that concentrations of dangerous substances could exceed relevant environmental quality requirements inside these special zones, as long as they don't spread or contaminate surface water.

However, the decision was heavily criticized for clashing directly with the European Union’s Water Framework Directive to protect marine and other environments. The agreement sets limits for chemical concentrations in seawater.

Even though Cheminova exceeded the agreement's limits, they kept getting “special allowances,” experts claim.

Kim Gustavson, a senior researcher from the Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University, told Courthouse News that the chemicals in Cheminova’s wastewater are highly bioactive and very toxic even at low concentrations.

“The chemicals accumulate and have toxic effects on water animals and organisms — especially fish, seaweed and crayfish," he said. Gustavson was surprised by the ministry’s decision to expand the mixing zones due to the high risk of negative impacts on people and the environment.

In addition, the expansion will also increase the amount of environmentally hazardous substances the industry can discharge into waterways.

“Instead of trying to clean the wastewater and improve sustainability, it has given Cheminova the option of pumping toxins into a larger sea area. The problem is that substances cannot really be contained in the open sea, and they can easily spread,” said Gustavson.

He noted that the area around Cheminova has been polluted for decades.

Denmark has long faced substantial issues with water quality. It has struggled with high concentrations of artificial PFAS, or forever chemicals, from industry spreading as far as Greenland, along with dead zones that host little to no marine life as a consequence of runoff laced with fertilizers.

Bjarne Hansen, a local who has lived in the area his whole life, called the affair “incomprehensible.”

“They are pumping both wastewater from the production site and underground groundwater into the waters just off the coast. The volume is at an all-time high, and so is pollution,” said Hansen, who noted that fish stocks have almost disappeared from the area.

He criticized ministry officials for “playing games with the population” and failing to live up to their responsibility to protect the environment.

“It contradicts all logic, that they expanded the zone. I don’t know what to say. They have obviously made sneaky solutions without considering the locals,” said Hansen.

The pesticide factory had a turnover of around $4.5 billion in 2023, according to Agriwatch, and a big drop in business due to lower demand.

Cheminova employs around 800 people locally and 1,200 internationally.

In the aftermath of DR’s revelations, Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke has said the issues raised are critical, but he also stressed that he was not minister when the decisions were made.   

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