Uccle goes to court over PFAS pollution

The Brussels municipality of Uccle is taking bankrupt fire-extinguisher company Sicli to court over permanent PFAS contamination.

“PFAS are persistent pollutants, and this is certainly not a harmless form of pollution,” said Maëlle De Brouwer (Ecolo), Uccle’s alderwoman for the environment. 

“The municipality has already held three public information sessions for residents and has been considering legal action from the outset, should that prove necessary.”

Odile Margaux, alderwoman for legal affairs, said that taking the matter to court was now unavoidable. 

“Local residents and the municipality can no longer tolerate the damage,” Margaux said.

Uccle is joining the legal proceedings already initiated by Brussels Environment and the Brussels region to put a stop to the pollution.

Sicli had been manufacturing and distributing fire-extinguishing equipment at two sites along Chaussée de Neerstalle since 1961. 

It was discovered during the renewal of the environmental permit at the end of 2023 that the soil at one of these sites was contaminated with PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals".

A year later, Sicli went into liquidation but the contamination remained. The soil contains more than 2,400 times the level of PFAS at which action must be taken and the level is as high as 10,000 times the limit when it comes to groundwater pollution.

According to Brussels Environment, the liquidators of the bankrupt company are refusing to take action despite numerous attempts to get them to do so.

There is still no detailed study, and previously ordered urgent measures have not been implemented either. 

These measures are intended to protect the health of local residents and prevent the PFAS from spreading further into the soil and groundwater.

Uccle is now demanding that the liquidators launch a preliminary soil investigation and implement all the urgent measures deemed necessary by Brussels Environment, on pain of a penalty of €10,000 per day of delay.