Images show construction activity on the ground, where the transport giant has dumped tons of soil.

On the ground around the estate Falkendal in North Zealand, not just grass and other green plants are sticking out. Also bricks, tiles, asphalt, and plastic are emerging from the agricultural soil.

In the past few years, one of the largest transport companies in the Danish construction industry, SCT, has transported approximately 450,000 tons of soil out onto the land that lies on the outskirts of the small village of Kagerup.

The soil was supposed to be clean and free of construction waste and used to make the land better for farming – a so-called terrain regulation. However, both Gribskov Municipality, Region Hovedstaden, and residents in the area have found waste in the ground in recent years.

Even when DR visited the site in January, concrete, iron, and bricks could be found on the land. This surprises Thomas Budde Christensen, who is a lecturer with a specialty in waste economics at Roskilde University.

- It's not supposed to terrain regulate with construction waste, he says.

DR found bricks when we visited the land near Kagerup in January 2025. (Photo: © Dr)

This is not the first time that the company SCT has been involved in a case of soil contamination for a land where construction waste has been found. Also on another farm in Gribskov Municipality, Esromgaard, last year waste such as plastic pipes and old pipes were found on a land where SCT dumped soil. This has been reported by TV 2 (https://nyheder.tv2.dk/2025-02-18-billeder-afsloerer-byggeaffald-i-historisk-naturomraade ).

Yesterday, DR could tell that SCT has transported around 450,000 tons of soil in the vicinity of the Falkendal land area over the past few years. According to DR's research, the ground in some places has grown by over five meters.

The owner of the land Anny Føns and her husband, Jørn Føns, received permission in 2020, in collaboration with SCT, to transport soil out with the argument that the soil was necessary for improving the land for farming.

However, so much soil has been transported out that experts have evaluated for DR that the project more resembles a soil depot for excess soil from construction projects than actual soil improvement.

This is how it looked while SCT transported soil to the land in the outskirts of Kagerup. (Photo: © PRIVATE)

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Commune finds waste from demolished house

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Several residents from the area have been concerned about what was in the soil that was dumped around Falkendal and where the soil came from in recent five years, and several of them have contacted Gribskov Municipality and reported that there was waste on the land. This is evident from the case files in the matter with the municipality.

Even the municipality itself has found waste on the ground. This is confirmed by the acting municipal director Niels Tørsløv in a written response to DR.

He writes that the municipality has found "a small amount of construction waste from a demolished house on the property," and that it was subsequently removed.

> It can certainly leave a suspicion that there could be more unpleasant surprises

> Michael Tophøj Sørensen, land inspector and lecturer, Aalborg University

In one of the approvals that the municipality has given, it is otherwise a requirement that "the soil does not contain waste, including construction waste." However, the municipality did not take further action after its discovery.

- There must be a concrete, justified suspicion, before one starts a soil testing. Inquiries (from residents, red.) have not given the municipality a concrete, justified suspicion of contaminated soil, writes Niels Tørsløv to DR.

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Tip us

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We would very much like to hear from you if you know of similar cases or have other information about soil and waste industries that we should investigate.

Write to DR's journalists at [described email address](mailto: [email protected]) or encrypted at [described email address](mailto: [email protected])

Your inquiry will be treated confidentially.

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Region makes unexpected finds

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Also Region Hovedstaden has found waste in the soil around the Falkendal estate. This is evident from a report from February 2024.

The report was made because the Føns couple, according to the region, illegally received permission to transport soil to a part of their property, which is an old raw material pit. Among others, SCT had transported soil.

* A plastic pipe in the grass on the land where SCT transported soil. (Photo: © Dr)

* Reb was also visible on the land when DR visited it in January. (Photo: © Dr)

* A pile of trash, which a resident after his own account has observed on the land near the village of Kagerup in North Zealand. (Photo: © PRIVATE)

* A resident has taken this picture of insulation on one of the lands near Falkendal. (Photo: © PRIVATE)

* Wires or reb, which a resident has taken pictures of and sent to DR. (Photo: © PRIVATE)

* Also plastic has been found, according to a resident who has contacted DR, in the soil on the land.

1 / 6 A plastic pipe in the grass on the land where SCT transported soil. (Photo: © Dr) 1 / 6 Reb was also visible on the land when DR visited it in January. (Photo: © Dr) 2 / 6 A pile of trash, which a resident after his own account has observed on the land near the village of Kagerup in North Zealand. (Photo: © PRIVATE) 3 / 6 A resident has taken this picture of insulation on one of the lands near Falkendal. (Photo: © PRIVATE) 4 / 6 Wires or reb, which a resident has taken pictures of and sent to DR. (Photo: © PRIVATE) 5 / 6 Also plastic has been found, according to a resident who has contacted DR, in the soil on the land. 6 / 6

Region's report should among other things reveal whether the soil can lead to contamination of groundwater or not. The conclusion was that the soil would not significantly affect nature and the water environment in the area. Therefore, Anny and Jørn Føns received permission to leave the soil.

However, during the investigations, unexpected items appeared in the soil.

- There has been observed waste in the surface, which indicates that there has not been laid out clean soil on top of fill materials, it sounds like one place in the report.

In several other places it is written that "bricks" have been observed in the soil.

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How we did it

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Every fifth year, the entire Danish area is scanned from the air, and a map is made called 'Denmark's Height Model'. The Height Model is a map that shows how high the entire Danish area is in relation to the sea surface.

DR has used a program to compare the Height Model from 2019 from Kagerup with the Height Model from the same area from 2024.

In this way, one can see how much the land near Kagerup has grown. The soil contamination began in the spring of 2020.

In addition, DR has received access to the municipality's handling of the soil case in Kagerup. With the help of the documents, interviews with experts, and contact with SCT and several residents in the town, DR can uncover the case.

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SCT: 'It means that the soil is not contaminated'

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Waste in the soil does not necessarily mean a large risk of contamination. This has Poul Bjerg, who is a professor at DTU and an expert in soil contamination, previously evaluated for DR ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/henrik-brugte-aarevis-paa-raabe-myndigheder-op-om-vognmands-affaldsjord-pludselig ) in connection with two soil cases from Køge.

However, plastic and bricks can give a concern about whether everything is as it should be, and whether the soil in general is clean, evaluates Michael Tophøj Sørensen. He is a land inspector and lecturer at the Institute for Sustainability and Planning at Aalborg University.

- It can certainly leave a suspicion that there could be more unpleasant surprises, he says.

The transport company SCT has not wished to participate in an interview about the case. In a written response, the company's environmental director, Kristian Lund Johansen, emphasizes that SCT has only transported clean soil to the land near Kagerup, and that the soil has been controlled.

- There can certainly be a small occurrence of elements from, for example, agricultural use such as pipes, brokens or other – but this will be removed in connection with transport and placement – and the soil will be controlled during the process.

- It means that the soil is not contaminated, writes SCT's environmental director to DR.

He emphasizes further that SCT has complied with the municipality's permits to transport soil to the ground.

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Information contradicts director's explanation

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DR has asked SCT's environmental director why the waste found on the fields comes from. However, he can, according to his own account, not answer that.

- Quite simply because we have not allocated waste, he writes.

A number of residents have sent DR pictures, which according to them show waste on the fields that belong to the Falkendal estate. (Photo: © PRIVATE)

Kristian Lund Johansen informs DR that the soil that SCT has transported to the land near Falkendal has only been transported "from field to field." Part of the soil came from the construction of a new super hospital on a field in Hillerød and part from a construction project on a field in Helsinge, explains he.

However, this does not match the information that DR has received from several municipalities.

The information shows that SCT has reported to the municipalities that soil was transported to Falkendal from a long series of other places than fields – here among other things from construction sites in the middle of various towns on Zealand. This includes soil from one of Rigshospitalet's construction sites on Østerbro in Copenhagen.

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How it works when soil is moved

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If soil is to be moved, one should, as a rule, apply for permission from the municipality where the soil is located. The application contains information about where the soil is to be moved from, where it is to be moved to, how much soil there is, who is to move it, and not least how clean the soil is. The cleanliness of the soil is documented with soil samples.

Informed by DR's knowledge that soil transportations have been reported from a long series of construction sites to the fields near Falkendal, Kristian Lund Johansen changes his explanation.

He writes further that the soil comes from 25 different cases.

- These are of course assigned in accordance with the project's permit and the Soil Transport Regulation. The soil that we have allocated is controlled, he writes.

Several residents in Kagerup have complained to the Planning Complaints Board about the many tons of soil that SCT has transported to the land. The Planning Complaints Board is the highest appeal body when it comes to deciding whether the planning law has been broken.

The Planning Complaints Board decided last year ( https://pkn.naevneneshus.dk/afgoerelse/fa98544f-3250-497c-b5f5-cf2ec303f096?highlight=Gribskov ) that the 450,000 tons should be removed, but the case is not over yet. The owner of Falkendal, Anny Føns, and her husband, Jørn Føns, have filed a lawsuit against the Planning Complaints Board to have the decision overturned. The case will be heard in the fall of 2026.

Anny and Jørn Føns have not wished to participate in an interview or otherwise comment.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.