Reporting environmental pollution
What is it?
Everyone must comply with environmental regulations. The municipality, police and other organizations monitor this.
Report environmental complaints about businesses to Environmental Complaint Gelderland.
Environmental complaints by individuals should be reported to the municipality.
What to do.
You can report environmental pollution or nuisance caused by a business in the following way:
- Online web form: notification through Environmental Complaint Gelderland
- Complaint or unusual incident by phone: (026) 377 18 00
If it's not about a company
email: gemeente@aalten.nl
by phone: (0543) 49 33 33
How long does it take?
You can report for:
- air pollution
- soil contamination
- odor or noise nuisance
But also, for example, if someone illegally dumps waste.
Supervisors
The municipality is responsible for protecting the environment in its territory. This is what supervisors do. These work for the municipality or for an environmental service. Those supervisors:
- checking that everyone is following the rules;
- give information;
- may enter businesses and other places (except homes);
- may view documents and make copies;
- taking samples and examining stuff;
- stop and examine vehicles and
- request information
Everyone must give full cooperation to the supervisor. If that cooperation is not given, the supervisor can ask the police for help.
Other organizations
Other organizations that check whether everyone is complying with the environmental rules are the police,the province, Rijkswaterstaat, the water board, the Inspection Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority(NVWA) and the Environmental and Transport Inspectorate.
Additional information
What else can the municipality do?
The supervisor first tries to make arrangements with the offender who is breaking the rules. If that fails, the municipality can do a number of things:
- Revoke all or part of the environmental permit or exemption
- eliminate the undesirable situation
- close all or part of the business
- fine.
The municipality, like the police, can also take criminal action. The municipality does this together with the public prosecutor's office (OM). For example:
- file a report
- issue a warning
- reach a settlement where the offender pays
- seize sth.
- prosecution and sentencing to a fine or imprisonment
Damages
- You can seek compensation from the person responsible for the damage you suffered.
- If you can't work it out together, you can file a request for compensation in court.