Eco-pioneers ignored

Trouble over illegal landfill sites kept quiet for a long time

Wrecked cars next to rusty exhaust systems, old TV sets - what was no longer needed was often disposed of ruthlessly in the past.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Pupils uncovered serious environmental sins in 1986. At the time, they were forbidden from informing the public. Now, however, the authorities are demanding their work from the past - but their former teacher (and state secretary) is getting in the way. For good reason.

It all started with a lot of enthusiasm, but ended with reproach and frustration. In the mid-1980s, the 2nd grade of the Oberwart Commercial Academy in Burgenland combed through the entire district to find and register garbage dumps. The results would cause a wave of indignation today.