Medicinal residues that end up in our waterways cause an environmental catastrophe. Now the EU has decided: the pharmaceutical industry has to pay for it. But she refuses.
Just because the Emscher looks beautiful doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Nobody knows this better than Heinz Hiegemann, head of the Dortmund-Deusen sewage treatment plant. On a warm autumn day, he stands on the Emscher dike behind his sewage treatment plant and explains the river’s amazing ability to transform. Upstream it is brownish and cloudy in color. Right in front of the engineer he suddenly becomes clear as drinking water. And then, further downstream, countless magnificent aquatic green plants shimmer beneath the surface. Even a turtle emerges from the depths and paddles around.
Source: Stern
