Belgium to pay €10m for Nato pipeline leak clean-up

Belgium will pay Nato a €10.2 million advance for cleaning a site in Wavre which has been polluted by a pipeline belonging to the organisation. The operation will last six years, according to defence minister Pieter De Crem, who was replying to a question from MP Theo Francken. “The process is very expensive. The problem is not so much that Belgium must pay such a sum – Nato will refund the whole amount against the invoices. It’s more the time elapsed since the problem was identified,” said Francken. The leak was discovered in March 2005 by the Belgian military unit in charge of moving a strategic pipeline installed by Nato during the Cold War to ensure the supply of its troops. Wavre mayor Charles Michel did not blame the current defence minister or his predecessor, André Flahaut, however. “The Walloon Region has taken a long time to approve the plan of action submitted by the defence authorities,” he said.