According to Switzerland’s Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) there are 38,000 polluted zones covering 220 square kilometres spread across the country, reported RTS. 220 square kilometres is equivalent to nearly 80% of the canton of Geneva.
The interactive map below combines data from the army, public transport, civil aerodromes and cantons to present polluted zones across the country. The map can be moved and zoomed in and out.
The colour coding ranges from no expected harm (yellow) to polluted and in need of clean up (red). Blue means an investigation is required, light orange means no clean up is required, dark orange means the site must be monitored, and a final colour (grey) is for unevaluated sites.
The authorities believe 80% of these sites require no remedial measures. The remaining 7,500 sites (20%) require more investigation, monitoring or clean up, something that is expected to be completed by 2040. However, FOEN has said it thinks the work may take longer because of limited resources.
2,000 of these 38,000 sites were polluted by the army, in some cases the pollution is waste created by shooting ranges.
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