A landslide of contaminated soil threatens environmental disaster in Denmark. Who pays to stop it?

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Authorities in Denmark are working against the clock to stop a slow-moving landslide of contaminated soil from reaching a nearby water source. Meanwhile, public officials and the company that operated the site are arguing over who should pay for the massive cleanup. The 75-meter (250-foot) -tall heap of dirt at the Nordic Waste reprocessing plant south of the town of Randers in northwestern Denmark contains some 3 million cubic meters (100 million cubic feet) of soil contaminated with heavy metals and oil products. It is moving at a pace of up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) per hour toward a stream connected to the Baltic Sea via the Randers Fjord.