"Notice Contains Errors"

Asbestos Scandal: Authorities Face Lawsuits Seeking Millions

The Pilgersdorf quarry has been closed for nearly a year—unjustly?(Bild: Christoph Miehl)

Four quarries in Burgenland were closed at Christmas 2025 due to a potential asbestos risk. New test results are now available for two of the sites. The operators are demanding the immediate revocation of the notices, and the authorities face lawsuits worth millions.

“The sudden claim in December 2025 that there was a danger to life was never true,” clarifies Frank Eichhorn, operations manager of the Pilgersdorf quarry. Naturally occurring asbestos was suspected at four quarries in central and southern Burgenland. According to the state, samples taken in November 2025 tested positive. At the time, officials stated that a health risk could not be ruled out. The district administrations ordered an immediate halt to mining operations.

This cost the companies millions, according to the “Krone.” The operators therefore had the Institute for Hazardous Substances Research of the German Occupational Safety and Health Association for Raw Materials and the Chemical Industry, as well as CRB Analyse Service GmbH, examine the rock products using the downpipe method—and the results are leaving the authorities struggling to explain their actions.

Using the—admittedly—controversial term “asbestos” to provoke hysteria is deeply reprehensible.

Frank Eichhorn, Betriebsleiter des Steinbruchs Pilgersdorf

Bild: Christoph Miehl

Authorities must brace for lawsuits seeking millions
This is because the asbestos levels for Pilgersdorf and Bernstein are well below the applicable thresholds. Results for two additional quarries are still pending. Frank Eichhorn, operations manager of the Pilgersdorf quarry, is now clearly calling on the district administration to immediately revoke the closure orders. These orders were already flawed as of Christmas 2025.

“The damage that the officials have caused here based on unscientific and technically questionable rough estimates should not be made even worse,” says Eichhorn. This signals the onset of a fierce legal battle over whether the official closure was justified. As the “Krone” has learned, the businesses plan to take legal action against the authorities.

Even the task force gave the all-clear
The authorities’ decision has been pending for months. In September, the Oberwart District Administration—which is now solely responsible—stated that the question of the correct analytical method remained unresolved. The legal classification of the crushed rock also had to be clarified first.

At the time, the state’s task force pointed out that its measured values were below the Austrian limit for workers and also below its own guideline value. Greenpeace disagreed: simply applying values from the workplace to the general population is scientifically incorrect; there can be no question of giving the all-clear. 

“Unfortunately, people who may be experts in the disposal of contaminated building materials—such as roof and wall panels—but not in geogenic deposits have also exerted influence in this context,” says geologist Martin Kirschbaum of RWTH Aachen University, criticizing what he views as the flawed investigations by the authorities and Greenpeace.

“While building materials are manufactured and contain up to 30 percent asbestos, natural asbestos minerals in the rocks of the Burgenland quarries occur only in minute traces and are much more firmly bound, which is not even remotely comparable to construction waste and must be tested in accordance with standards.”