The Sandoz chemical spill was a major
environmental disaster
An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.Jared M. Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', 2005 This point disti ...
caused by a fire and its subsequent extinguishing at
Sandoz
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...
agrochemical storehouse in the Schweizerhalle industrial complex,
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, on 1 November 1986, which released toxic agrochemicals into the air and resulted in tons of pollutants entering the
Rhine river
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
, turning it red.
The chemicals caused a massive mortality of wildlife downstream, killing, among other animals, a large proportion of the
European eel
The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases.
Eels have been important sources of ...
population in the Rhine, although the situation subsequently recovered within a couple of years.
Description
The stored chemicals included,
urea
Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid.
Urea serves an important ...
, fluorescent dye,
organophosphate
In organic chemistry, organophosphates (also known as phosphate esters, or OPEs) are a class of organophosphorus compounds with the general structure , a central phosphate molecule with alkyl or aromatic substituents. They can be considered ...
insecticides,
mercury compounds and
organochlorine
An organochloride, organochlorine compound, chlorocarbon, or chlorinated hydrocarbon is an organic compound containing at least one covalently bonded atom of chlorine. The chloroalkane class (alkanes with one or more hydrogens substituted by chlo ...
s. Among the major resulting water pollutants were
dinitro-ortho-cresol
Dinitro-''ortho''-cresol (DNOC) is an organic compound with the structural formula CH3C6H2(NO2)2OH. It is a yellow solid that is only slightly soluble in water. DNOC and some related derivatives have been used as herbicides.
Preparation
This co ...
, the organophosphate chemicals
propetamphos,
parathion
Parathion, also called parathion-ethyl or diethyl parathion and locally known as "Folidol", is an organophosphate insecticide and acaricide. It was originally developed by IG Farben in the 1940s. It is highly toxic to non-target organisms, inclu ...
,
disulfoton,
thiometon,
etrimphos and
fenitrothion
Fenitrothion (IUPAC name: ''O'',''O''-dimethyl ''O''-(3-methyl-4-nitrophenyl) phosphorothioate) is a phosphorothioate (organophosphate) insecticide that is inexpensive and widely used worldwide. Trade names include ''Sumithion'', a 94.2% solutio ...
, as well as the organochlorine
metoxuron.
The cause of the blaze was never established.
In 2000,
Vincent Cannistraro, a former senior U.S. intelligence official, stated that the Soviet
KGB had ordered the East German
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maintaining state autho ...
to sabotage the chemical factory. According to him, the operation's objective was to distract attention from the
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two n ...
six months earlier in the Soviet Union.
[Stasi accused of Swiss disaster](_blank)
The Irish Times. Nov 23, 2000. The Swiss authorities were considering opening investigations again.
Swiss info. No evidence of this presumed sabotage has ever surfaced.
As a consequence of the incident Sandoz extended its health, safety and environment activities and introduced new procedures for risk and emergency management, including auditing.
Website of doCOUNT Ltd.
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Notes and references
See also
* Environmental movement in Switzerland
The environmental movement in Switzerland is represented by a wide range of associations (non-governmental organisations).
The article also present green politics and Environmental policy, environmental policies of Switzerland.
Organisation ...
*
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Environmental disasters in Europe
1986 in Switzerland
Novartis
Upper Rhine
1986 fires in Europe
Industrial fires and explosions
Fires in Switzerland
Water pollution in Switzerland
1986 in the environment
November 1986 events in Europe
1986 industrial disasters
High Rhine basin
1986 disasters in Switzerland