© europics.at
28. 10. 12. - 15:22
Salzburg urges rethink over bomb disposal costs
The row between Austrian sederal government officials and regional governments over who should cover the cost for making unexploded World War II bombs safe has been settled with a court ruling that the state does not have to pay.
A legal action seen as a test case the entire country was started by Salzburg council that claimed 920,000 euros in costs for having to deal with unexploded Ordinance.
During World War II the Allies dropped hundreds of thousands of bombs across Germany and Austria and many devices failed to detonate, and even after decades underground are still capable of exploding.
The Austrian High Court has now ruled in favour of the state in the case but Salzburg mayor Heinz Schaden (SPÖ) said that he did not see this as the end of the matter.
He said that communities that had a small budget and land owners might will not be able to find the money to cover costs and urged the government to introduce new legislation to help.
