2023-05-08 13:00:00
Since the announcement, by Céline Tellier, Walloon Minister for the Environment, of €16 million for the clean-up of 7 old landfills, including that of Basse-Wavre, we cannot say that the file has progressed.
As Jean Goossens (Ecolo) described it during the last municipal council, “the Basse-Wavre landfill is a bit like the Loch Ness monster. From time to time, it resurfaces.”
This landfill of 141,600 m², with a mass of waste of 800,000 m3, closed in 1991, has already given rise in 2002 to an orientation study and in 2004 to a characterization study. And then… nothing more until December 2006 when Charles Michel, at the time a very young mayor of Wavre, had taken up the landfill file head-on by closing three businesses because of gas fumes.
By touching the cover of the landfill, during the construction of the shops, we had reactivated the production of biogas. At the time, La Spaque secured the site to avoid any risk of explosion. And then… nothing more, until 2009, with analyzes and a new orientation study drawn up by Tractebel.
And then… nothing more until the municipal council of 2018 where a market of 120,000 € had been awarded for “carrying out investigations by an approved expert in the management of polluted soils in the Walloon Region“
And then… nothing more, until the municipal council of September 2020, where a new market had been approved for a “characterization study of the site called Basse-Wavre“following the conclusions of the 2018 orientation study.
And then… nothing more until the municipal council last April where Paul Brasseur, first alderman, demystified the delays between the orientation study, the characterization study (in progress) and a possible start of remediation.
“You realize that the deadlines set by the Walloon Region are totally unrealistic for a mega landfill like that of Basse-Wavre with 800,000 m3 of waste. If everything has to be evacuated, even in a dream, but I think it’s better to see it as a nightmare, that would be 40,000 trucks.“
A heavily polluted site
Regarding the characterization study, a first drilling campaign for sampling and laboratory analyzes has been completed. It confirms what everyone knows. The site is very polluted, as indicated by the conclusions of the orientation study carried out by the IRCO design office.
“Hydrocarbon pollution that had not been observed during the orientation study was highlighted near a nearby car dealership, said Paul Brasseur. As a result, a new drilling campaign will be carried out from the second half of May. Then, groundwater sampling will start from the third week of May.”
At best, the results will be communicated at the beginning of July. The municipal authorities can then submit the characterization study to the regional administration.
The regional administration’s decision is expected to land in October. At present, this calendar is not fixed. Region and City of Wavre still have to agree on an agenda, and also and above all the financial part that each will assume in this depollution of the Basse-Wavre landfill.
On the side of the Region, we announce 3.5 million €. What about Wavre? Meetings between representatives of Minister Tellier’s office, the regional administration, Spaque and the municipal authorities are scheduled. A first took place on April 26, the day after the municipal council. And since… nothing
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