Permission revoked for Odense Municipality and Nyt OUH to discharge purified water into local stream

Odense Municipality and Nyt OUH have been denied permission to discharge purified water from a soon-to-be-built wastewater treatment plant into a small nearby stream, Killerup Rende. Nyt OUH had been given permission three years ago to discharge the treated water into the stream instead of the public sewer, saving millions since they would not have to pay a 38 million connection fee and an annual 6 million fee for drainage.

However, the Danish Sports Fishing Association (DSFA) opposed the permission, arguing that the stream’s ecosystem is vulnerable. The Environmental and Food Complaints Board agreed with the DSFA and has now revoked the discharge permit. Lars Brinch Thygesen, an environment consultant from the DSFA, said, “We thought long and hard about whether to file a complaint. We all need a hospital that works, but we thought there were many aspects of the permit that were not okay.”

There is little joy from the developers, Region Syddanmark. Karsten Uno Pedersen, Chairman of the Committee for Construction, Procurement, and Green Transition said, “We had worked hard on this. We had expected that if we ensured a quality of wastewater that is cleaner than regular drinking water, there would be no issues. However, this is the decision that has been made, and we must now see how we can move forward.”

The wastewater will come from both the new university hospital and the adult psychiatry department. The treatment plant can remove medicines and viruses so effectively that the water becomes drinkable, said Bjarne Brisson, the project leader of Nyt OUH. He guesses that they will have to pay a connection fee of 38 million and an annual fee of six million to discharge clean water into the public sewer, which leads it to Ejby Mølle (the municipal treatment plant) for further treatment. He calls it a waste of taxpayers’ money.

However, DSFA disagrees. They point out that Killerup Rende is a small stream that is much more vulnerable than Odense Å, where the municipal plant discharges its treated water. They also highlight that the discharge permit has examined far fewer substances than will be used at the hospital. “We use substances in the treatment of humans that should certainly not end up in nature. The wastewater contains over 600 substances, and only 11 have been examined. I certainly do not think that is good enough,” said Thygesen.

The decision by the Environmental and Food Complaints Board cannot be appealed. Region Syddanmark must now figure out the next steps. The treatment plant at Nyt OUH is supposed to be operational when the hospital is. Since the hospital has been delayed, there is time to rethink, said Pedersen.

Odense Municipality, which granted the original permit, will also have to process the application for a new one. Nyt OUH, set to be Denmark’s largest newly built super-hospital, was supposed to be ready in 2022, but construction is still ongoing. Negotiations are currently underway for a new timeline.