The Bergkramerhof is clean.
After a laboratory has determined that the pollution is minimal, the city council stops regular sampling.
Wolfratshausen
- "An environmental scandal": In spring 2013, the then head of the health department in Bad Tölz, Dr.
Franz Hartmann, loud alarm.
After the Weilheim water management office found coliform germs in the water protection area above the roofs of Wolfratshausen, Hartmann demanded that the Bergkramerhof golf course be closed.
Because: The germs were detected in a sample that came from an inspection shaft on the extensive grounds of the Bergkramerhof.
Now the city council has unanimously decided: The annual taking of soil samples on the golf course area will be discontinued.
No chemistry on the golf course - not even allowed
In 2013, the germs found sparked a violent dispute.
Next to the head of the health department Hartmann at the front line: Green City Councilor Dr.
Hans Schmidt and the golf course operator and lawyer Dr.
Josef Hingerl.
Schmidt accused Hingerl of illegally applying pesticides on the golf course, the lawyer opposed it with the same vehemence.
Not least because experts came to the conclusion that the pollutants in the 70 meter deep well could hardly have anything to do with the conditions on the surface.
Finally, after much back and forth, a more or less amicable agreement was reached: the city of Wolfratshausen monitors the development of pollutants in the Bergkramerhof area through regular soil sampling - and Hingerl made a virtue out of necessity: his golf course is now, in his words, “the first ecological golf course in Germany".
Since 2014 he has completely dispensed with the use of chemical aids in lawn care - including those that are permitted.
The authorities no longer gave reason for complaints.
Soil samples have been taken and analyzed again and again in recent years - by the way, Hingerl had to bear the costs.
Most recently, in 2019 and 2020, the municipal engineering firm GHB Consult GmbH in Starnberg determined: All analysis results are "below the detection limit of the laboratory" and "significantly" below the limit values specified in the Drinking Water Ordinance.
After analyzing the soil sample taken on July 8th of this year, the engineering office informed the Wolfratshausen town hall chief: "A risk to the relevant path of action and ultimately also to the drinking water of the city of Wolfratshausen is excluded." According to the experts, further investigations are not necessary.
Also read: The Bergkramerhof golf course: it's so green
The city council unanimously followed this recommendation in its session.
The annual soil sampling "and risk assessment with regard to the development of pollutants on the area of the golf course at Bergkramerhof" will be discontinued until further notice.
The citizens' representatives rejected the option of carrying out soil examinations every five years instead of the previous year.
Schmidt emphasized with a smile that he did not want to assume anything to Hingerl.
"But we want to keep the pressure up," said the Green City Council.
Because with the decision to temporarily forego the regular soil sampling, "we remain flexible," explained Schmidt.
The city council has the option of commissioning a sampling and analysis at any time.
