Swiss court convicts transport boss over Mitholz quarry dumping

A Bern court has found the head of a transport company guilty of repeated document forgery and property damage over the dumping of contaminated material at the Mitholz quarry. SRF reported that he received a suspended prison sentence with a two-year probation period.

The quarry in the Kandertal is not a landfill. It lies in a water protection zone, about 1.5 kilometres above Blausee lake, so only uncontaminated excavated material may be used to refill it. Yet tonnes of contaminated material were dumped there over several years.

Prosecutors said the company boss built a profitable scheme in 2016 and 2017, earning about 90,000 Swiss francs illegally. They also said the contaminated material reduced the value of the quarry plot, causing about 835,000 francs in damage.

The company was supposed to dispose of pressed sludge left over from washing gravel and concrete at other firms. Instead, it took the material to the Mitholz quarry. The company boss drove the trucks himself on 29 occasions; drivers made another 110 trips.

Drivers said the boss urged them to falsify delivery notes and change the sludge’s place of origin. Thirteen drivers had already been convicted of document forgery by penalty order.