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On Tuesday morning, a silo burst at a manure processing cooperative on the Oude Weyerstraat in Grote-Brogel (Peer). A plug could have come loose due to the severe frost. Around 200,000 liters of processed manure flowed away. However, this did not lead to any unpleasant odors.
Geert Van Baelen/Marij Wyers
Yesterday at 11:42
“The treated manure has already been aerated,” explains Luc Stinckens from the manure processing cooperative. “The nitrogen and definitely the phosphorus are gone. It’s a pretty pure product.”
On Tuesday morning, Luc Stinckens, also a pig farmer, came across the manure on his property. There are several large concrete tanks for storing manure. “A silo plug probably shrunk and came loose. As a result, wastewater (such as processed manure, editor’s note) flowed away. We estimate that 200 cubic meters were lost. When we discovered the leak, we immediately placed a pack of straw over the hole and began vacuuming with our eel barrels. We also built a dam to stop it from spreading further.”
Watercourses
The fire department was also called. “The farmer was already busy pumping out the manure. We lack the suitable material for this. We looked at how we can prevent the manure from getting into waterways. “For this reason, the environmental officer of the city of Peer and the Flemish Environment Agency (VMM) were also notified,” says firefighter Ronny Waelbers from the North Limburg emergency zone. The fire department did not decide to immediately spray the street with water. Because if the water were to freeze, it would become very slippery. In addition, the company is remote.
Soil samples
“Our environmental coordinator, which we are obliged to do as a manure processing company, also came by,” says Stinckens. “We were already busy with our pumps to prevent more manure from leaking out.” The concrete storage silos can hold around 400,000 liters of wastewater. They have a diameter of up to 60 meters and an estimated height of 7 meters.
The city of Peer sent two environmental officers to the company. “It is a class 1 company (companies that pollute the environment the most, editor’s note) and it falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment of the Flemish government,” says Mayor Steven Matheï of the town of Peer. “The departments of the VMM and the Manure Bank (responsible for permits related to manure processing plants, editor’s note) have taken samples to assess the situation. “In this way, everything was and will be done to limit the damage and then renovate it as best as possible,” said the mayor.
The situation is being closely monitored. “We will spend a whole day collecting the substance and pumping it into an available silo. As soon as the incorrect stop occurs, we pump it over again,” concludes Stinckens.
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