For over thirty years, a company specializing in cleaning and repurposing industrial barrels was active on this site. The company went bankrupt in 1995, leaving behind a heavily contaminated site. Over the years, the soil and groundwater became contaminated with a chemical cocktail of chlorinated solvents, mineral oil, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which can be found at depths of up to 7.5 meters.

Ten years ago, the Flemish Public Waste Management Agency (OVAM) carried out an official remediation to prevent further contamination. Approximately 25,000 tonnes of soil were removed for processing, and a sheet pile wall was installed between the adjacent residential area and the site. The bankruptcy trustee subsequently sought project developers on the private market to acquire, remediate, and redevelop the site. In 2018, negotiations were concluded without success, and the bankruptcy proceedings were closed.