It is not easy to know who should pay what

Workers have repackaged their tools. The holes have been plugged. And the inhabitants of Staufen-im-Breisgau now keep the fingers crossed hoping that the soil will cease to stand beneath their feet. The woes of this charming German town of 7,800 souls, located 40 kilometres south-east of Colmar, are not yesterday. It is in his room of the Löwen Inn two not City Hall as Dr. Faust was killed in an explosion in 1539. Legend has it that the famous Alchemist have been caught by the devil. The demon appears to be back on his way in November 2007.

This is in effect this month that the first cracks appeared in the historical heart of the city. In the beginning, person not too voiced. Homes built over five hundred years ago eventually show their "wrinkles". But cracks have quickly become crevices. "Plaster began falling from the ceiling, said Wolfgang Schuhmann, who leads the association Wir halten Staufen zusammen." I even had a neighbor who was awakened at night by the explosion of one of its Windows. "Mirko Bene fribourgeois counsel represents him, a man who"has the ground of his salon crossed by a fault in which can already drag multiple fingers ".

Water seepage

To date, damage have been reported on 252 houses from the historic center classified in this commune. The Old Firehall used by municipal services was declared unsafe, after a huge fault of 30 centimetres separate the building into two. "Every two weeks, an inspector enters the homes damaged to verify if their owners can still live there, tells Mr. Schuhmann.". It is a little stressful for people sitting in their sofa to see an engineer enter their living room with a helmet site screwed on the head... . And say that this disaster is part of a beautiful and noble idea...

"The Town Hall has wanted to do something good for the environment by using geothermal energy for heating," says Helmut Zimmermann, President of the Association of merchants of Staufen. The municipality therefore appealed to an Austrian company with gable on street to perform in September 2007, just behind its offices, 7 drilling depth of 140 metres. This site was nothing exceptional. "The city already had similar hole and nothing had ever happened," notes Mr. Schuhmann. But this time, the basement started to rise to 1 centimeter per month in an area in the form of ellipse of 250 metres in length and 250 metres in width. This phenomenon was caused by wetting of a layer of sediment containing anhydrite. However, this calcium sulfate has the particularity of gypsum in contact with water and to increase by 60 in volume. The area containing this mineral to Staufen was very small. "The driller has found a needle in a haystack, regrets Mr. Schuhmann. Holes have been dug 20 metres further, it does have nothing happened. "However, the Austrian company made the mistake not to use a sufficiently concrete resistant sulfate, which caused water seepage. "Some areas were even not concrete at all", said Professor Ralph Watzel, the head of the Office of geology of the State of Baden-Württemberg.

The inhabitants of the village are yet "steps in anger, adds Mr. Zimmermann.". It is a feeling of sadness prevails here. "Residents gathered in the association Wir halten Staufen zusammen in an effort to alert opinion and raise scarce funds, selling such watches that contain pieces of the fissured Town Hall. Two people have also attacked the municipality in court, but judges should put years before accusing responsible for any of this disaster.

An incident at 40 million

Indeed, the case is complex. "The city, the region, the drilling company and geology services have all played a role in this case, says Mayor Michael Benitz. It is not easy to know who should pay what. All I know is that the municipality has already a credit of EUR 2.8 million on the back. We cannot continue any funding for a long time. "The total cost of this"incident"could approach 40 million euros. Insurers refuse to pay the lesser sou. "They do not want to recognize that this is a natural disaster, because everything was triggered by the hand of man", notes Mr. Schuhmann. In the meantime, tourists they increasingly go to Staufen. "Many come here to see our crack", regrets Mr. Zimmermann. The inhabitants of the municipality live, them, on the day the day. "The work coming to complete should halt the rise in the ground here a year, hope Mr. Schuhmann." We can then begin to restore our buildings. "Some caution remains appropriate. "We really don't know if the measures we have taken will stop this natural phenomenon, shows Mr. Watzel. We are in the highest expectations.