In a statement released on Thursday following Wednesday’s meeting between the company’s management and László Papp—during which the mayor said he had called on the company to leave Debrecen—Semcorp said it had informed the mayor about the current status of its internal investigation and its cooperation with the authorities.
The company stressed that it fully recognizes the seriousness of the identified problems and their impact on the local community, adding that resolving the situation as quickly and satisfactorily as possible is now its highest priority.
According to the statement, the company’s immediate focus is conducting a thorough investigation covering every aspect of the case, with the participation of independent experts. The aim is to establish exactly what circumstances led to the environmental violations. Semcorp said the investigation is being led by some of the group’s most experienced operations, technology, compliance, project management, and technical specialists.
The company added that it will continue to mobilize all available resources until it can credibly demonstrate that all identified problems have been fully resolved.
Semcorp also emphasized that it is cooperating with all relevant authorities and, in line with last week’s decision by the environmental authority, continues to fully comply with the temporary suspension of operations at its Debrecen facility.
On 24 June, the Hajdú-Bihar County Government Office’s environmental authority announced the suspension of the Chinese company’s operations due to environmental pollution.
According to the authority, delayed laboratory test results revealed concentrations exceeding legal limits for several metals and metalloids—including aluminium, barium, zinc, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, lithium, manganese, nickel, lead, copper, iron, and arsenic—compared both with regulatory thresholds and with baseline groundwater measurements.
Five days later, on 29 June, Debreceni Vízmű Zrt. announced that the detected groundwater contamination at the factory site does not affect Debrecen’s drinking water sources. The utility stated that the city’s tap water continues to meet all quality standards and remains safe for consumption.
