Residents desperate

“The dust is driving us crazy”

Kurt Puhl during daily cleaning.

(Bild: Reinhard Judt)

A quarry in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg is causing residents to despair. The dust is getting on their nerves and criticism of the operator is growing. But according to the authorities, everything is fine.

The Puhl family's daily companion is the cleaning rag. Kurt Puhl also had it with him during the "Krone" visit to their house in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in the district of Bruck an der Leitha. No wonder: wherever you look, there is dust everywhere in his garden. "The pollution is enormous. And it's currently increasing massively again," explains the 72-year-old.

"We're cleaning like crazy"
Local residents have been struggling with the consequences of the quarry in the east of the village of 2,000 people for decades. In 2004, for example, a citizens' initiative protested against the expansion. According to the residents, the problems remain to this day - and are increasing. "It's particularly bad when the wind blows from the south-east. We clean like crazy, use three times as much water and in just one day everything is buried under a thick layer of dust again. After all these years, we've had enough," says Puhl in despair.

The pensioner, who has lived here for 45 years, is even thinking about selling the house, which is about 500 meters from the quarry as the crow flies. "But who will buy it from us with these dust problems?" he wonders. Like many others, Puhl is convinced that regulations are being breached here.

State of the art
However, the authorities emphasize that the blasting process was state of the art during the last inspection at the end of the previous year. In addition, numerous measures had been implemented in 2024, such as the expansion of the reverse rainwater system and the reinforcement of the road at the bottom of the quarry. In general, with regard to mining, there is an official obligation to sprinkle and moisten those roads and traffic areas that are not used by customer vehicles within the company premises between April and October so that the surface is kept constantly moist.

According to the district authority, seven blasting operations have been reported on Pfaffenberg so far this year. "Quarrying is currently taking place on 'levels 4 and 5' in the east of the quarry," it says.

"Taking this seriously"
Rohrdorfer Sand und Kies GmbH, the operator of the quarry, also asserts that all specifications and limit values are being adhered to: "The protection of local residents is of great importance." They also point to a number of measures that have already been implemented. However, further suggestions were made during talks with local residents the previous week. "Our aim is to continue to invest in ongoing improvements to reduce emissions," they assure us.