Transport boss faces trial over contaminated waste at Mitholz

A transport company boss went on trial in Bern on Wednesday, accused of directing drivers to dump contaminated material at the Mitholz quarry and other pits in Switzerland, SRF reports.

Prosecutors allege that, on the man’s instructions, drivers falsified delivery slips to label the material as clean excavated soil. He faces charges including fraud, property damage and offences under water protection law. A verdict is expected on November 10. The defendant is presumed innocent.

The Mitholz quarry in the Bernese Oberland is not a landfill and may be refilled only with uncontaminated material because it lies in a water protection zone. It is about 1.5 kilometres above Blausee, a tourist destination with a trout farm.

Thousands of trout died at the Blausee farm from 2018 onwards. Its owners believe the deaths were connected to the contaminated material, but that allegation has not been proven.

The quarry was also used to store contaminated material from construction work at the Lötschberg Tunnel, a case that came to light in 2020. The criminal investigation into railway company BLS was dropped last year. Bern prosecutors said those responsible could not have known that contaminated material was not permitted at the quarry.