Company fined 100,000 kroner for illegal excavation of protected coastal slope

A company has been ordered to pay a 100,000 kroner fine for illegally excavating a protected coastal slope near Vejle Fjord, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

In spring 2025, excavators and a bulldozer moved around 7,600 cubic metres of soil on the slope, despite strict coastal protection laws prohibiting any earthworks without a permit. The unauthorised digging triggered a landslide that ruptured a sewage pipe, exposing the violation.

Frederik S. W. Paaske, chief legal advisor for Southeast Jutland Police, called the fine “substantial” compared to typical penalties under Denmark’s Nature Protection Act. Under previous rules, fines for such offences usually ranged from 5,000 to 30,000 kroner, but the scale of the damage—covering 8,500 square metres over a 75-metre stretch—justified the higher amount.

The case was processed under older legislation, as a 2024 political agreement to double penalties for environmental crimes had not yet taken effect. Paaske noted that while the work was carried out with “gross negligence,” the site’s private ownership meant custodial sentences—reserved for vandalism on public land—were not applicable.

Critics, including Karina Lorentzen, legal spokesperson for the Socialist People’s Party (SF), argued the fine was insufficient. “100,000 kroner is pocket change for a company with 79 million kroner in equity,” she said, calling for prison sentences in severe cases to ensure deterrence.

The company has since attempted to restore the slope, though authorities acknowledge its appearance remains permanently altered.