Why is Switzerland offering cash prizes to retrieve munitions from lakes?
Al Jazeera
Why did the Swiss military dump munitions into lakes from 1918 to 1964 and why must they be retrieved now?
The Swiss Federal Department of Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) is offering 50,000 Swiss francs ($57,800) for the three best ideas on how to retrieve some 12,000 tonnes of old munitions from the country’s lakes, including Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and Lake Lucerne.
“Armasuisse wants to involve academia and industry in the considerations on how environmentally friendly and safe recovery of deep lake ammunition could be carried out,” according to a department statement.
It is thought the operation to remove the munitions, which were dumped between 1918 and 1964 could cost the government billions of francs.
So why do Swiss lakes contain old munitions and why is Switzerland so eager to retrieve them now?
Some 12,000 tonnes of munitions were dumped by the Swiss military into Swiss lakes over the course of many decades following the first world war. Due to Switzerland’s limited space and high-density populated areas, it was considered a “safe” way to dispose of both excess and faulty ammunition stocks.
