FMC Rønland, formerly known as Cheminova, plans to shut down its plant in western Jutland, and Region Midtjylland is preparing for the possibility that the long-term cleanup of the site becomes its responsibility.
Region Midtjylland says the soil and groundwater pollution at the Rønland factory site could end up as a public task. DR reports that the company plans to halt production and close the plant at the end of 2027.
Morten Bondgaard, head of the region’s office for soil pollution, told DR the scale would be unusual. He said it would be an enormous task, and that he knows of nothing comparable in Denmark.
Today FMC itself pumps up polluted groundwater and treats it at a treatment plant. According to Bondgaard, this voluntary effort keeps the pollution from seeping out and reaching the surrounding fjord.
The company will continue that work after the closure, Bondgaard said. Even so, he called it utopian to expect FMC to run the voluntary effort forever, which is why the region must be ready for someone else to operate it.
No agreement has been made about who takes over. Bondgaard said the region has been in dialogue with the company for a long time and knows the pumping and treatment system in detail. He added that FMC has carried out, managed and paid for the work so far.
Jobs and local reaction
Around 400 employees will lose their jobs when the plant closes, The Copenhagen Post reports. Ingeniøren also reported the closure and that all 400 jobs will go.
Trine Rønn, a city council member for SF in Lemvig Municipality, told DR the cleanup is one of the most important tasks ahead. She said more than 400 people are losing their work, and that the site holds what she described as Denmark’s largest generational pollution.
Rønn said someone must keep pumping the polluted groundwater so the sea and the fjord are not poisoned by the old contamination. She added that if the jobs and the remediation are resolved, she would allow herself to feel slightly relieved that seven decades with northern Europe’s largest chemical plant nearby are ending.
According to DR, Cheminova and its effects were what drew Rønn into local politics years ago. She said she now hopes the site can be given new life after the closure.
Rønn described the location as unusual. She said it is probably the only site in Denmark, and perhaps in northern Europe, with a three-kilometer safety zone around it.
The plant sits on the Rønland peninsula in northwestern Jutland. Region Midtjylland has not stated when a decision on the future operator is expected.
