Facts

Various types of waste were deposited in the Illiswil landfill in Wohlen from 1962 to 1975. In 2001, it was determined that the site required remediation. In 2010, the Bern Office for Water and Waste (AWA) issued a cost allocation decision, which set the following cost shares:

  • 30% for the City of Bern as a co-responsible polluter
  • 60% for the now-dissolved landfill operator, whose share is borne by the Canton of Bern
  • 10% for the current landowners as status polluters

The municipality of Bern and the affected landowners filed appeals against this decision. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern dismissed the appeal of the landowners, who then filed a public law appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court confirms that a site owner who has already acquired the property with the contamination is generally one of the potentially liable persons, unless they can be exempted from liability under Art. 32d para. 2 sentence 3 of the Environmental Protection Act (USG). The equation of the concepts of polluter and status polluter corresponds to the will of the legislator.

In determining the cost share of the site owner, the following factors must be particularly considered:

  • Whether they could have prevented…