Contaminated soil from WWII may be in Bratislava bypass

Contaminated soil is allegedly being used in construction of the Bratislava bypass, wrote the Pravda daily in a Tuesday article. According to a motion that is being examined by the Slovak Environment Inspectorate, the contaminated soil comes from premises of Bratislava's former main bus station in the area known as Mlynské nivy. The locality around the bus station has been affected by this environmental burden for decades, with soil contamination caused by bombing of the Apollo oil refinery during the Second World War, as well as former chemical factories in this area. The contaminated soil is being carried from there to a construction site of the Podunajské Biskupice - Ivanka pri Dunaji D4 motorway section. The motion warns against a risk of groundwater contamination due to the potentially chemical-laden imported soil. However, the Zero Bypass consortium, which is the construction's contractor, refutes these accusations. It claims that the material for the motorway construction undergoes a stringent quality of suitability assessment, including the zero soil contamination condition.