During corrosion protection work at the Punt dal Gall dam in September 2016, an incident occurred in which PCB-contaminated blasting material entered the Spöl and spread in the watercourse. The affected section of the river is partly located in the Swiss National Park and has a length of several kilometers. The Office for Nature and Environment (ANU) of the Canton of Graubünden quickly initiated initial investigations to ascertain the extent of the damage and set up an interdisciplinary task force. In addition, first immediate measures (cleaning of the stilling basin) as well as small-scale test remediation were carried out. Due to the high complexity of the case, it developed into a political issue with high media impact. Ecosens provided scientific and environmental legal advice to the power plant operator EKW, participated in the round table negotiations and prepared a draft for the remediation project. Due to differing views on the remediation goal and the remediation perimeter, remediation measures have not yet been started.
