Granulite supply to be halted soon
The municipality of West Maas en Waal has asked the court, by means of a preliminary injunction (a type of summary proceedings), to immediately halt the use of granulite in Over de Maas in Alphen. This case was heard today at the District Court in Arnhem.
The use of granulite is highly controversial in the opinion of the municipality.
Experts have conflicting opinions about the long-term effects of substances (particularly polyacrylamide) on the living environment. To date, 781,000 tons of granulite from Amsterdam has been processed in the Over de Maas reservoir. The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management is the responsible authority and has approved this processing. The Minister considers this to be a responsible application.
On behalf of the Minister, an investigation ("review") is currently being conducted into the consequences of processing this granulite in the lake. An independent agency (Arcadis) has been hired for this purpose. During the hearing, an agreement was reached with the sand extraction company Over de Maas BV to immediately cease processing as soon as Arcadis has completed sampling of the delivered batches in accordance with the research protocol.
This sampling will take several more weeks and is necessary to ensure that the investigation runs smoothly. Sand extraction company Over de Maas BV has subsequently agreed not to start processing until the results of Arcadis' investigation have been finalized.
Arcadis' report is expected in December of this year. Until then, the supply of granulite will be suspended. This means that the supply of granulite will continue for a few more weeks and then be suspended until the final results of the investigation are known. This urgent procedure is intended solely to suspend the supply as quickly as possible.
Appeal to the District Court and the Council of State
The municipality also has an appeal pending (known as substantive proceedings) before the District Court and the Council of State, in which all the issues raised in the granulite dossier are being discussed. The aim is to assess whether the Minister has acted correctly in the application to date. The municipality has requested that an independent body (Stichting Advisering Bestuursrecht) give a definitive ruling.