The Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, recognized Monday evening in Rouen that the odors caused by the fire of the Lubrizol factory were "embarrassing" but assured that they were "not harmful". "The smells that we smell (...) are indeed very disturbing, very painful to bear, they can indeed cause a certain number of reactions but they are not harmful", he declared before the site of the factory by reaffirming its desire for "absolute transparency" on the causes and consequences of the accident.
"The quality of the air is not in question"
According to the head of government, who came in turn in Rouen after five members of the government, "the quality of the air in Rouen is not in question". "That's what scientists tell me, technicians tell me and I tend to listen to what scientists and technicians tell me when it comes to safety and risk management ", he added to the press. Édouard Philippe expressed his "extremely strong will to say what we know as soon as we know it," adding that he "perfectly understood" the anxiety of the population, especially parents.
Commitment to "accompany" farmers
Asked about the right of withdrawal exercised by teachers in several colleges of Rouen, he said "perfectly understand that it is difficult to teach in a class if a certain number of students are embarrassed by the smell". "If they think that's the right thing to do, I hear their reaction," he said. On the origin of the fire, which according to the company Lubrizol would be external to the site, Édouard Philippe said he had "no information to indicate what hypothesis would be right or wrong".
The Prime Minister then pledged to "accompany" the farmers of Seine-Maritime and other regions affected by the consequences of the fire.
Fire in Rouen: "the water is drinkable", reassures the Metropolis
The water distributed on the 71 municipalities of the Metropolis Rouen Normandy "is drinkable," said Monday the community, after images of black tap water or greyish widely shared on social networks. "No trace of contamination was found," added the Metropolis in its statement.
"The drinking water tanks of the Metropolis of the north shore, on which the plume of smoke has concentrated, have all been checked," says the Metropolis.