These different flows hugely complicate the containment of the toxic waste that has become part of this water body. The flows create a large area of containment spreading out in practically all directions. The current site of heavily contaminated water is estimated to be 9.11 km2 and, fortunately, hasn’t been growing recently, according to reports from the Regional Hydrological Service (Gewässerkundlicher Landesdienst 2012: 142). The Federal Institute for Exemption from Contaminated Sites (Landesanstalt für Altlastenfreistellung) oversees the containment of these toxic flows. Firstly, an enormous amount of 600.000 t of contaminated building rubble and soil has been removed to stop the input of toxic waste into the ground and the water bodies. It is now mainly stored at the nearby landfill site Hochhalde Schkopau where it has been wrapped in general waste (Deponieersatzbaustoffe) to minimise further leakages (MDSE 2021b). Secondly, wells that have been constructed in the epicentre of the contamination continuously pump up contaminated water, which is filtered and then flows into the river Saale. This process represented the core activity for groundwater remediation (Landesamt für Geologie und Bergwesen 2007: 116). It was shut down in 2019 as it was no longer deemed necessary by the Federal Institute for Exemption from Contaminated Sites (Landesamt für Altlastenfreistellung 2020: 13). Still, after all these measures, large amounts of toxic chemicals remain in the water body, and they can’t be easily extracted. The state offices are stressing the complexity of the flows that poses severe problems to any predictions where they might surface again (Landesamt für Altlastenfreistellung 2020: 13). As a third measure, additional wells have been constructed in areas known to harbour contaminated underground flows to prevent the spreading of toxic waste. These are called Randriegelbrunnen (roughly “edge containment wells”) and function as shields for the water bodies and living beings behind them. They are used to extract and filter underground water, which is afterwards pumped into the river Saale.

These efforts to control the movement of groundwater bodies and their contents have been part of a long history of similar practices in Saxony-Anhalt since at least 1785. They were first devised to enable coal-mining operations. There had been a lot of small-scale mining in different areas of the federal state. But 1785 marked when the first industrial-scale removal of groundwater with steam engines was established. It was necessary to prevent water from entering the deeper mining shafts that crossed groundwater. As the number of mining operations and their size grew, groundwater levels were changed significantly over periods of hundreds of years up to the point where the new, artificially produced levels were perceived as normal and “natural” by the population, which then settled on previously uninhabitable wetlands (Landesamt für Geologie und Bergwesen 2007: 65). This change of mind proved problematic when mining operations in certain areas ended and water levels rose again. Lawsuits about the liability of the subsequent damages often could not be settled because it was impossible to reconstruct the pre-mining “natural” water levels (ibid: 66). In the case of the former lignite mining site, Goitzsche near Bitterfeld-Wolfen, wells for the permanent reduction of water levels were installed to enable the continuation of habitation in areas now under the groundwater level (ibid: 66).

Additionally, certain geographical features of Saxony-Anhalt require groundwater transport over long distances. The Harz mountainous region absorbs most of the rainfall in the federal state, leaving the central areas with very little influx to their groundwater bodies. Most cities receive water via long overland water pipelines from the Harz to prevent the overuse of local groundwater. Other influences on groundwater flow in Saxony-Anhalt are the construction of wells and channels, the changing of the direction of rivers, the erection of new geographical features like landfill sites, the subsequent input of chemicals, also through large-scale farming, withdrawal and filtration of water for human consumption, the sealing of areas through stone, concrete and roads and finally changing patterns of rainfall caused by global warming. Thus, far from flowing “naturally” in line with geographical circumstances, underground flows in Saxony-Anhalt have been mediated by humans for a long time with intent, but not always with the result of benefiting human society. This human control of the water bodies is meant to provide fresh water and prevent water from intruding into areas where it would cause harm by flooding, drought or toxicity. Still, the safety promised by the edge containment wells around Schkopau promise is fragile. The general quality of groundwater and surface water bodies like rivers and lakes is considered to be very poor across the board. The map (Figure 14) indicates the quality of water bodies in the area, colour-coded in green for good quality and red for poor quality.

At the beginning of 2020, the Federal Institute for Exemption from Contaminated Sites published the alarming results of a recent test that showed concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs) in the groundwater body way above the levels considered safe for human consumption under the nearby village of Korbetha. However, the Federal Institute promised that this was merely a routine check and living in the town was safe if no water from local wells was consumed (Bertram 2020).