Dutch Minister to start talks with Germany over PFAS discharges

Dutch Infrastructure and Water Management Minister Barry Madlener will enter into talks with the German government on reducing discharges of PFAS in industrial wastewater in the Rhine. The House of Representatives instructed the minister to do so in a motion.

The motion was prompted by media reports that the German government does not intend to set limit values for PFAS in discharge permits of the German chemical industry on the Rhine. As a result of German discharges, three to four times more PFAS flows into our country via the Rhine than is safe for human health, according to the RIVM.

 

Read more: h2owaternetwerk (in Dutch)

‘That PFAS tap must be shut, preferably today rather than tomorrow.’

In an editorial today, Dutch newspaper Trouw is critical of both the governments in Berlin and The Hague when it comes to dealing with PFAS discharges into the Rhine.

After earlier reporting on the letter RIWA-Rijn sent to German minister Lemke on the subject, the newspaper now takes a stand against the procrastination of both governments: ‘That PFAS tap must be closed, preferably today rather than tomorrow.’

Read the editorial here (in Dutch)