The suspicion is in the air: the ground on which the sports field of the new Hohenbrunn secondary school is to be built is allegedly contaminated with problematic material. First investigations from the autumn have supported this assumption. A second, more in-depth soil test is to show how serious the contamination of the subsoil is, the results of which should be available soon. Mayor Stefan Straßmair (CSU) is optimistic: “The soundings in November weren’t worrying, but they weren’t optimal either. That’s why we want to know more about it now so that we can get an unassailable result.”
There are “the wildest rumors about what’s in there,” says the mayor. “But our first findings are that it is mainly excavation from the underground construction in Neuperlach Süd, i.e. rubble and tar. But definitely no explosives or anything like that.” Not everyone in the village shares the view that the finds in the area west of Hohenbrunner Straße, between the succession area and the motorway, are harmless. Ulrich Fechner, former managing director of Solarkraftwerke München Land (SKML), who represents the initiative for sustainable local development in Hohenbrunn, expresses a much more pessimistic view in an open letter to the mayor and local councillors: “Long-established residents of Hohenbrunn who know the history of the area think: ‘I wouldn’t want to have this area for free'”, writes Fechner and demands clarification as to “what substances were found and how a risk to the pupils and others who are supposed to do sports there can be ruled out”.
The Green Sigrid Bauer, wife of the municipal councilor Georg Bauer, expresses itself even more clearly in an e-mail, which was also sent to the mayor and the local political representatives. She cites “local farmers” who say the entire sports field is planned “over a rubbish dump”. The detection of tar in the first well means that the pit is “definitely” contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). According to the Federal Environment Agency, wherever such PAHs pollute the soil, extensive immediate measures or costly remediation of contaminated sites are required. Because, as the office writes in a publication that is available on its website, “many PAHs are carcinogenic, mutagenic and/or toxic to reproduction”.
Sigrid Bauer demands that the previous property owner, the company Dibag, which belongs to the Doblinger Group, has to pay for a necessary renovation. “There is also no need to buy this property,” says Bauer. The area to the east of Hohenbrunner Strasse would be sufficient for a secondary school and Montessori school and their sports fields. Which would have the positive side effect that the students would then not have to walk to get to the sports facility.
The mayor wants to leave the rubble where it is: “If you expose pollutants, they become even more dangerous.”
If possible, Mayor Straßmair wants to refrain from extensive removal of the rubble: “We will leave the pollutants there, because if they are exposed, they become even more dangerous. In the worst case, a drainage system will be laid over it to prevent the release of toxins”, says the mayor. District administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU), who, as chairman of the special-purpose association for secondary schools in the south-east of the district of Munich, has a special eye on the urgently needed secondary school, adds. “My information is that the contaminated sites are not a major problem.”
Mayor Stefan Straßmair announces a citizens’ meeting at which planners and experts are to speak.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Local councilors are also concerned about the issue. The Green Wolfgang Schmidhuber hopes for a good result of the investigations: “It just depends on whether there are substances that outgas. What is quiet can stay there,” he says. However, if renovations need to be carried out, “then the cards will be reshuffled”.
Also financially, by the way. As far as the assumption of the costs for such measures is concerned, the mayor keeps a low profile: “Of course you have to discuss this with the owner, but we should be careful here, otherwise the negotiations about the price of the residential building areas may be opened again.” It is important to prevent this, because these were “not expensive”, according to Straßmair. With a view to the budget, this is a realistic estimate, seven million euros have been set aside for the 45,000 square meter property, which means a price of around 155 euros per square meter.
The noise pollution at the site is also currently being questioned with expert opinions
The contaminated sites in the ground are not the only topic currently being discussed about the location of the school. The fact that this place is exposed to three sources of noise at the same time – the main road, the S-Bahn line and the motorway – heats people’s spirits. “But it’s noisy everywhere in the district, so I can’t build a school anywhere,” says Straßmair. In any case, according to initial findings, extensive noise protection measures are not necessary. People rely on passive noise protection, i.e. appropriate windows. And nothing is planned for the sports field either: “We will neither build it six meters below the ground nor draw a noise protection wall around it,” says the mayor. In any case, noise protection is an argument for not doing sports right next to the school: “That would be the fourth source of noise,” says Straßmair.
Traffic on the Autobahn, such as here on the A99 near Hohenbrunn, causes noise pollution. Reports on this should also be available soon.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Noise protection and soil reports should be disclosed to the municipal council and then to the population as soon as possible – the head of the town hall also promises the municipal councils. Wolfgang Schmidhuber calls for corresponding “clear communication” because, according to the Green Party: “Transparency creates trust.” Manfred Haucke (Bürgerforum) sees it that way, he criticizes “that many details are not made public”. This affects the purchase negotiations with the property owner and also the various reports: “No one has ever seen one of these, but the mayor promised that everything would be posted on the website.” Straßmair urges patience, but then wants to fulfill his promises: The many investigations, incidentally also on traffic, need their time, “everything is gradually trickling in”. In March he wants to inform the municipal council comprehensively and then go into discussion with the public. “There will be a big event for the citizens, to which all experts and planners will be invited.”
District Administrator Göbel gave the preliminary final word: “The children have to go to school somewhere. And that’s a good plan, also because it’s close to the S-Bahn. In any case, we in the association were very happy about Hohenbrunn’s initiative.”