Was groundwater pollution a reason for the shutdown of the Beesen waterworks?

We could not find any other sources that mention any relation between the shutdown and the chemical site, or even the general groundwater pollution in the area. Interestingly, the only source mentioning any relation between the waterworks and Buna is an old report of the LAF that states the fact that the edge containment wells were actually installed “to stop the front of contaminants from reaching the Beesen waterworks” (LAF 2002: 10). We could, however, not find any information on whether this undertaking actually turned out to be successful at all. Only recently the LAF stated that all edge containment wells “work without relevant problems” (LAF 2020: 13). The same report mentioned new observations of groundwater pollution related to the factory in diplomatic parlance: New groundwater monitoring points installed in Korbetha to “eliminate knowledge deficits” in the village-area, “prove the suspicion of pollutants in the groundwater” (ibid.). Korbetha lies north of the plant, right on the Saale River, and only 500 m from the southernmost arm of the waterworks’ well system.

Even though we did not manage to further speak to any officials or stakeholders with more insight into the issues, the absence of coverage on this obvious relation seems already striking as it is. In fact, when we tried to make contact with the LAF, our respondent deemed any further conversation unnecessary and assured us all relevant information could be found on the LAF website.

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