Teckomatorp Explained

Official Name:Teckomatorp
Pushpin Map:Sweden Skåne#Sweden
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Sweden
Subdivision Type3:Municipality
Subdivision Name3:Svalöv Municipality
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Skåne County
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Skåne
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:1.22
Population As Of:31 December 2010
Population Total:1,651
Population Density Km2:1354
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Coordinates:55.8667°N 18°W

Teckomatorp (in Swedish pronounced as /ˈtɛ̂kːɔmaˌtɔrp/)[2] is a locality situated in Svalöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 1,651 inhabitants in 2010. It has a railway station (local Swedish: pågatåg trains) on the Malmö–Teckomatorp–Helsingborg railway line.

BT Kemi scandal

Teckomatorp is the site of one of the largest toxic spills in Sweden. The company BT Kemi produced pesticides. During the 1970s, the inhabitants of Teckomatorp started complaining of an acrid odour from the plant that made people ill. It was also said that BT Kemi had buried barrels of toxic waste in the ground. However, the authorities did nothing for several years, despite efforts of campaigners such as Monica Nilsson, a resident of Teckomatorp, who conducted a signature campaign among the citizens.[3] The government took steps to investigate the issue only after a former employee of BT Kemi told a newspaper that the company was entering forged values within allowed limits into its emission journals. When the authorities finally started to dig, several hundreds of barrels with toxic contents were found.

In 1979 the plant was demolished, and in 1980 the southern area around the plant itself was cleaned. Later it was discovered that the northern area of the town was also polluted, and that the southern area remained polluted despite cleanup efforts.[4] In 2009 a project to restore nature was completed: tons of contaminated topsoil were removed, and a natural park has been established on the site of poisoned area.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2005 och 2010 . 14 December 2011 . . Swedish . https://web.archive.org/web/20120127055525/http://www.scb.se/Statistik/MI/MI0810/2010A01/Tatorternami0810tab1_4.xls . 27 January 2012 . live . 10 January 2012 .
  2. Book: Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter. Jöran Sahlgren. Gösta Bergman. sv. 1979. 24.
  3. https://archive.today/20120913222048/http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/kampen-mot-bt-kemi-1.577826 Dagens Nyheter article
  4. Dagens Nyheter 22 March 2008)