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Ludwigshafen / Mainz (dpa / lrs) - The parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Bernhard Braun, sees a "worrying" increase in BASF business disruptions in the past two months.

"The answer to my little question shows that this year there have already been 15 notifiable operational disruptions at BASF in Ludwigshafen," said Braun of the German Press Agency in Mainz.

In seven cases, substances hazardous to water found their way into the Rhine.

"It is worrying that business disruptions at BASF have increased significantly in the last two months."

A company spokeswoman said on the other hand: "The number 15 also includes the safety circuits that are used to ensure that no emissions can get into the Rhine."

The 15 cases fall into the category of “reportable operational disruptions in accordance with the discharge permit from BASF”, as can be seen from the answer from Environment Minister Ulrike Höfken (Greens).

In these cases it cannot be ruled out “that they lead to the monitoring values ​​specified in the discharge permit being exceeded”.

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"All operational disruptions must be completely cleared up and protection concepts adjusted accordingly," demanded Braun.

"BASF must permanently ensure that no substances hazardous to water get into the Rhine."

There were no reportable events according to the Major Accidents Ordinance in the current year, as Höfken writes.

In the category of production withdrawals under immission control law, there was a report from a factory in March and July.

The company spokeswoman said: "In the past few years a number of measures have been taken to avoid emissions into the Rhine."

In this way, all companies have developed a waste water protection concept.

After every malfunction, the cause is precisely analyzed and appropriate measures implemented.

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“The analysis in the sewage treatment plant's inlet was significantly expanded in 2014.

Instead of around 75,000 analyzes as before, 200,000 analyzes are now carried out per year, ”said the company spokeswoman.

The number of substances analyzed has increased from 170 to just under 350.

Small request from the Greens parliamentary group leader Bernhard Braun