The ministerial document decrees that the City of Luxembourg, in its capacity as operator of the Beggen wastewater plant which caused the pollution, must commission an expert office to assess the environmental damage caused by the uncontrolled dumping of wastewater in the Alzette river.
Once the assessment is complete, the municipal authorities for the City of Luxembourg will have to pay for the damage incurred, said Carole Dieschbourg, also alluding to the compensation required by owners of fishing plots.
The Minister also requested a detailed report on the circumstances which led to a valve remaining open for 20 hours, causing the contamination. She insisted all measures must be taken to prevent such an error occurring in future.
The report is to be submitted by 2 October. Details must also be provided of all technical measures in place to avoid a re-occurrence.
Dieschbourg also sent her decree to the public prosecutor's office.
After the incident in Beggen, it was said deemed necessary to install a probe to control the treated water in the plant, preventing wastewater from spilling into the Alzette.
The municipal authorities of the capital now have one week to provide explanations to the Ministry.
The Beggen treatment plant is the largest in the country, built for 200,000 inhabitants. A development for the equivalent of 450,000 residents is under construction..
