Prosecutors open criminal inquiry into Sabic PFAS pollution

The public prosecution department (OM) has launched a criminal investigation into plastics maker Sabic over the suspected illegal discharge of a PFAS chemical into the Westerschelde estuary in Zeeland.

The plant in Bergen op Zoom is thought to have released PFBS, a type of “forever chemical”, into the Westerschelde and the nearby Theodorushaven without a permit, the OM said on Wednesday.

The inquiry follows a criminal complaint filed in January by four environmental and residents’ groups, which accuse Sabic and its predecessor General Electric Plastics of discharging PFBS into the estuary since the 1990s without a licence.

The case will be handled by the OM’s specialist environmental-crime unit, which will examine whether Sabic and its managers put harmful substances into surface water. The OM said the investigation would take time but that it would “keep up the pace” given the possible risks to people and the environment.

Sabic is already under pressure over PFAS pollution. In October a court ordered it to cut PFBS releases to a maximum of 2.75 kilos a year from 2026, down from around 50 kilos, after the province of Noord-Brabant imposed a stricter limit, which the company is appealing.

PFAS are a group of thousands of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they barely break down in the environment and have been linked to cancer, reduced fertility and damage to the immune system. Public health service RIVM has warned against eating fish or shellfish from the Westerschelde.

The OM is already pursuing a separate criminal case against Chemours, the Dordrecht firm at the centre of the country’s biggest PFAS scandal.