Army’s environmental damage to be costly
Environmental damage from flame throwers and leaking storage tanks will leave the Swiss military with a clean-up bill of more than SFr1 billion ($931 million).
Other damaging equipment includes materials made from heavy metals and landfills. Geologists have identified dozens of contaminated sites in some communities, the SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.
A spokesman for Switzerland’s armed forces confirmed the newspaper report.
Most affected are the cantons of Bern, Freiburg, Geneva, St Gallen, Zurich and Ticino. Authorities have records of some 1,500 contaminated sites nationwide.
The count does not include over 100 shooting ranges.
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