On 28 October 2022, the Flemish government, Lantis, the municipality of Zwijndrecht, BBL, Natuurpunt,… the Remediation Alliance. The agreement aims to address concerns regarding health and the remediation of PFAS pollution by 3M.
The agreement provides for soil remediation within a radius of 5 kilometres around the 3M site, a large-scale health study, and a number of improvements to the policy. BBL commits to halting the procedures against Oosterweel. Greenpeace and Grondrecht are not part of the Remediation Alliance and will continue these procedures.
In response to the PFAS pollution, Dryade published 20 improvement proposals, of which 10 were included in the negotiation document of the Remediation Alliance.
The following were included in the policy section of the agreement (p. 46):
- The Flemish Government acknowledges that it has an active obligation to disclose information regarding environmental damage;
- The environmental permit register will become the “Environmental Database” which will be established by 1 September 2023;
- A sectoral fund for the remediation of soil and water pollution with Substances of Very High Concern will be created;
- Companies will be required to insure themselves against environmental liability; and
- Flanders will provide support at the European level for the tightening of REACH, taking prevention into account.
We rely on the Flemish government to translate these policy measures into legislation.