The mayor of Rouen PS spoke out on Friday against an increase in the activity of the Lubrizol factory during a meeting on the fire that affected this Seveso site on September 26. A decree authorizing the chemical plant to run at 70-80% of its capacity against 30% currently must be published "in the coming days", said the prefect of Normandy Pierre-André Durand at a press conference, after the holding this Friday in prefecture of this committee for transparency.
"I am speaking out publicly, as mayor of Rouen, against restarting Lubrizol in such circumstances," wrote Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol (PS) in a statement. Questioned by AFP, he specified to have intervened in this direction Friday during the committee. “To date, no automatic alert system (SMS, emails, etc.) has been set up” in the event of an accident and “to our knowledge (…) the public resources necessary in the event of a disaster have not been significantly increased, "he argues.
"The site must first be completely cleaned up"
"No accident simulation exercise" has been conducted and "the new industrial safety regulations" announced at the national level "are not adopted," said the elected official. The Lubrizol factory is located between the municipalities of Rouen and Petit-Quevilly, bordering on it. Asked after the meeting on Friday, Charlotte Goujon, PS mayor of Petit-Quevilly, explained that she was also opposed to the increase in activity of Lubrizol.
The environmental association Robin des Bois also voted against during the committee, which is a place of exchange and not of decision. "The site must first be completely cleaned up," said association president Jacky Bonnemains. The area affected by the fire must be dismantled by September 26, according to the prefecture. But for the prefect, "it is urgent to authorize this reopening" because "there is no reason to continue to wait and take risks in terms of jobs".
"The state compass is security"
The site has 400 employees and induces 2,000 jobs, according to the prefect of Normandy. “The state compass is security. Considerations on jobs and the economy come second, ”he said. The latter also recalled that the rules, in particular in terms of detection and extinction of fires, had been revised upwards.
On September 26, nearly 10,000 tonnes of chemicals had burned on the Lubrizol site and that of its neighbor Normandie Logistique. A cloud of black smoke, 22 km long, had formed. No one was injured in the fire, but the long-term health consequences remain unclear.
Health
Lubrizol fire in Rouen: Why are the health consequences for the population difficult to assess?
- Rouen
- Lubrizol
- Fire
- Society