67 incidents reported before NATO exercise

Military training in agricultural area. Stock photo: forsvaret

67 injuries & complaints before NATO exercise has started

The number of reported accidents, environmental damage and complaints are expected to increase significantly when the NATO exercise Trident Juncture starts in earnest on Thursday.

 

So far, 67 events have been recorded since the first military vehicles came ashore in Norway in August and early September.

The actual battle exercises in the field start on Thursday, October 25th, and the Norwegian Defence Forces have decided to publish daily reports of damages and events on Forsvaret.no.

Mostly oil-spills

So far, the number of reports is normal and in line with previous exercises, according to Major Marianne Bø, who heads the injury and environmental group associated with the exercise. They are located at Røros.

The injuries are plotted on a map in the operating room. There you can see the density around the most important exercise areas and roads. The area extends from Fredrikstad to Trondheim.

“The most serious contamination event we have had is 100 litres of oil that spilt. That happened at Sessvollmoen. The groundwater is just 10 metres below the surface there. Fortunately, we had environmental officers in place who cleaned up and removed the waste quite quickly, says Bø.

The main concern is oil spills, which constitute the largest proportion, car accidents, damage to land and material damage. In addition, it regards complains about the noise.

There have also been two serious collisions in the relocation of military vehicles, but without personal injury.

24/7

When the combat exercises start up in a few days, the number of complaints and events is expected to increase significantly.

– For example, we are expecting more noise complaints when the helicopters begin to fly, Major Marianne Bø goes on to say. She believes that the international participants in the NATO exercise are good at reporting events and making sure that cleaning crews are summoned.

The environmental and injury group has people on duty 24/7 to answer inquiries.

Statistics

Complaints and injuries per October 23rd, 2018 #
Complaints 13
Environmental incidents (breakdown below) 54
Drinking water 0
Cultivated areas 3
Outlying fields and forest 1
Domestic and wild animals 1
Fishery and aquaculture 0
Material 3
Infrastructure 6
Sports facilities 0
Power and telecoms 1
Roads 2
Waste handling 0
Pollution 27
Vehicle accidents 10
Culture and national parks 0

Total (Updated daily)

67

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today