As has already been more thoroughly explained in Stops 3 and 4 of the Toxic Tour, and as institutions as the Federal Institute for Exemption from Contaminated Sites (Landesanstalt für Altlastenfreistellung, LAF) (LAF 2019: 15) or the Federal Office for Flood Protection and Water Management (Landesbetrieb für Hochwasserschutz und Wasserwirtschaft, LHW) (LHW n.d.) observe, it is known that the groundwater in the area still contains large amounts of toxic substances. This mainly concerns the direct surroundings of the former Buna Werke, where toxic residues are known to originate largely from the GDR era. However, this area is merely some 2000 m away from the Beesen waterworks itself, separated only by the Saale-Elster-meadows, that provide the water source for the well system. Furthermore, groundwater contamination is also found on this side of the Saale River, as recent data from the Federal Service of Hydrology (Gewässerkundlicher Landesdienst, GLD) shows (see also LHW n.d.).
As the GLD states, the main pollutants in the area are volatile halogenated and chlorinated hydrocarbons as well as aromatic hydrocarbons (such as BTEX and styrol), locally joined by other substances as phenols and heavy metals (e.g. mercury) (GLD 2012: 143; see also LAF 2002: 9). These pollutants originate from the chemical production and have reached the soil through leaks in the production processes as well as incidents and war damages (GLD 2012: 143). While the local remediation of soil and buildings was mostly completed in 2002 (LAF 2002: 9-10), measures of containment of the groundwater contamination (namely the edge containment wells) were then implemented to protect the surrounding water bodies and to remediate the damage (GLD 2012). Between 2004 and 2010 the GLD observed no worsening, but also no improvement of the total groundwater pollution and its spatial dispersion (GLD 2012: 144; see also Stop 3, Chart 2).
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