Tonne of Toxic Waste Found in Šumava: Minister Declares Environmental Disaster

Czech Environment Minister Petr Hladík (Červený) told a press conference that a genuine environmental disaster has occurred on the site of a former military training ground near the Šumava village of Prášily. According to him, the area is contaminated with extremely hazardous toxic substances — mercury and arsenic.

Inspectors found a thousand tonnes of contaminated soil and 200 barrels of dangerous chemicals at the site. The minister did not rule out the possibility that army ordnance may also be buried there: "We cannot exclude the possibility that there is military pyrotechnics there as well," Červený noted.

Groundwater May Also Be Contaminated

The minister said the ministry's new leadership is now effectively engaged in cleaning up the aftermath of the environmental disaster. The site has already been closed to visitors, and the first stage of decontaminating the most hazardous part of the area will begin shortly. Červený acknowledged that the contamination may have reached groundwater: "We will need to carry out a hydrological survey," he said.

According to the ministry's estimates, the contaminated zone is roughly the size of two football pitches. For security reasons, the ministry has not disclosed the exact location, though Červený assured reporters that the site is fully fenced off and cordoned with tape, meaning there is no risk of local residents coming into contact with the hazardous substances. Earlier reports indicated the leak occurred at the former military training ground near Prášily in Šumava.

Cleanup Will Take Three Years and Nearly 200 Million Crowns

The decontamination work has been divided into four stages and, according to preliminary estimates, is expected to run until mid-2028. The minister estimated the total cost of the operation at around 192 million crowns. The Ministry of the Environment is coordinating the cleanup effort together with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior.

Source: novinky.cz