Szombathely stops waiting and will pave asbestos-contaminated streets with its own funds

Szombathely says it will no longer wait for a broader solution to the asbestos contamination affecting streets in western Hungary. The municipality plans to pave 12 kilometers of roads at a cost of nearly 1 billion forints, financing the work through its bank credit facility.

The city hopes the government’s newly established, open-ended 3 billion forint asbestos remediation fund will cover some or all of the bill. It also expects the final cost to be borne under the polluter-pays principle by the Austrian mines, or by the Austrian state, identified as the source of the asbestos-tainted stone.

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The polluter will pay in the end.

The problem extends beyond Szombathely and the Oladi plateau. Kőszeg, Lukácsháza, Sárvár, Bük, Táplánszentkereszt and Szentgotthárd are also affected, as are numerous other settlements across the Western Transdanubian region. The material will not be removed from the streets. Instead, authorities have said it will be covered with asphalt using specialized equipment and safety measures.

The government’s response has become part of the dispute. A parliamentary committee responsible for the living environment could not meet in Szombathely after governing-party lawmakers, the ministry responsible for environmental affairs and the Vas County government office canceled their participation just hours before the session. Peter Magyar later said in Vienna that Hungary and Austria would create a joint committee to investigate the situation, although he said responsibility had not yet been established. Former minister Tibor Navracsics said the outgoing government had urged its successor to act, but that no meaningful action followed until the new fund was announced on July 23.

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They abandoned the municipalities, and nothing has happened since May.