Brown waterfall shocks Geiranger tourists

A brown, foul-smelling discharge into the river at Geiranger’s Dynamittfossen waterfall alarmed tourists and staff on Friday, Dagbladet reports.

Eirik Vaage, managing director of Explore Geiranger AS, said visitors were taken aback by the sudden appearance of brown water and a strong sewage odour. Initial fears that the incident might be environmental crime prompted staff to document the scene with photographs.

The discharge occurred when septic waste from a tank at Dalsnibba was emptied into the municipal sewage system too quickly, causing an overflow into the river. Stranda municipality confirmed the incident was accidental, attributing it to a blocked pipe unknown to the tank’s owner at the time of emptying.

Vaage estimated around 25 tourists were in the area during the incident, which turned the waterfall brown for several minutes. He described it as an unpleasant experience in a UNESCO World Heritage site but expressed hope it would be a one-time event.

Stranda municipality has since committed to reviewing procedures to prevent recurrence. Norva24 Vest Miljøservice, the company that emptied the tank, has deferred comment to the municipality.