‘This project is meant to be a trendsetter’
Although the Einstein Telescope will be built underground, the construction also affects many factors at the surface. That is the domain of Johan Rutten, Environment and Sustainability Manager at the Project Office for the Einstein Telescope EMR. Read his column here.
Although the Einstein Telescope will be built underground, the construction also affects many factors at the surface. That is the domain of Johan Rutten, Environment and Sustainability Manager at the Project Office for the Einstein Telescope EMR. Read his column here.
When I was selected for the position of Environment and Sustainability Manager for the Einstein Telescope project in September 2024, the cycle of a lifelong fascination with science and engineering came full circle for me.
The wonder of our functioning infected me right from the start. When I was 10, I was given a chemistry set with which I could do simple experiments, until they ended following a dirty purple-brown stain on the ceiling. Later, I was given a subscription to ‘Natuur & Techniek’ (Nature & Engineering) (the precursor to the Dutch edition of ‘New Scientist’) for my birthday, and swallowed up the articles that gave me a better understanding of how our environment works: from the universe and our solar system to how detergents work, DNA structures and discovering the elementary particles.
The fact that I would pursue a science discipline was written in the stars. That discipline eventually became biology, rather than basic science, but with a fascination for its interaction with many fields of science and technological evolutions. As luck would have it, I ended up in 1987 in the environmental sector, which is now indispensable in our daily activities. Just consider the need for circularity of materials and nitrogen or climate measures. The path I followed included environmental research, impact evaluation and impact assessment, supporting policies and businesses in their struggle to come to terms with ever-stricter legislation and licensing. Having integrity and the goal of ‘making the world a better place’ as a moral compass. Solving problems holistically and preventing them if possible. Sometimes suffering setbacks, sometimes hitting a brick wall, but fortunately I can look back on the completion of successful projects.
All these insights are now coming together in the feasibility study for the Einstein Telescope for the Meuse-Rhine Euroregio. I had been following this project for several years and was particularly interested in the above-ground effects of such construction. Drilling and digging must surely involve a whole logistics of moving materials, not to mention the effects of large amounts of water being pumped from the deep. Is it qualitatively reliable to pump it into surface waters or allow it to infiltrate into shallow groundwater? What about dehydration or waterlogging in a precipitation-prone area? Will we succeed in safeguarding the surrounding landscape, agriculturally and ecologically?
Dozens of questions for which I now have to find my own answers. Calling this a challenge is therefore an understatement. Answering the research questions is not the only goal, the focus is on the added values, yes: plurality, to be delivered by the Einstein Telescope for landscape, nature, agriculture, sustainability, tourism and business, and that with minimal disruption and disturbance.
In addition, we want (and need) to test all interventions and elements of the project against internationally recognised strict sustainability standards, against which we are also already testing dismantling in the final phase. The project is meant to be a trendsetter for the way we should interact with our environment. We owe this to the present and future generations in the region.
—Johan Rutten
