Water-polluting substances; accident report to the police or fire brigade

According to Section 62 (3) of the German Federal Water Act (WHG), substances hazardous to water are solid, liquid and gaseous substances that are capable of causing permanent or significant adverse changes to water quality.

If such substances are released in an accident, they can lead to water pollution either by flowing directly into a body of water or by seeping through the ground.

In the event of accidents involving water-polluting substances, the municipal fire services (volunteer and professional fire brigades) fulfil the municipalities’ statutory duty to avert danger in the event of accidents, in accordance with Section 1 of the Bavarian Fire Service Act (BayFwG).

It is therefore necessary to inform the fire service or police as quickly as possible in the event of such accidents. The legal obligation to report such incidents applies not only to the plant operator, but also to anyone who fills or empties, decommissions, dismantles or removes, maintains, repairs, cleans, monitors or inspects a plant (see Section 24(2) of the Ordinance on Installations for Handling Substances Hazardous to Water – AwSV).

Provide as much detailed information as possible, in particular about the location and time of the accident and the type and quantity of substances released.

The fire brigade operations centre or police station then takes over the alerting of other authorities such as the district administration, municipality or water management authority.