The Rouen Respire association has filed a suspension request with the administrative court of Rouen against the resumption of partial activity of the Lubrizol factory. His lawyer, the former Minister of the Environment Corinne Lepage, notably indicated to Agence France-Presse (AFP) to have filed this appeal "on behalf of Rouen Respire which has the status of a legitimate association", confirming a information from the newspaper Le Monde .
"What we are saying is that we are not against restarting Lubrizol - we even think that we have to maintain activity and jobs - but under current conditions, it is hasty, this poses a risk to the population, ”said the president of Rouen Respire, Olivier Blond. The association hopes with this request to obtain "a debate or even a new cessation of activity". "Given the stakes, we think we can wait a month or two to get it right," said Olivier Blond.
Partial reopening
The Lubrizol factory in Rouen, classified as a Seveso high threshold, and where a gigantic fire broke out on September 26, restarted on the night of December 13 to 14, after the green light from the Seine-Maritime prefecture at a partial reopening. According to the president of Lubrizol France, the company represents some 2,200 direct and indirect jobs.
"We think that today Lubrizol has not shown that it is beyond reproach in ensuring the safety of the population," underlines Olivier Blond. "The appeal is based on the fact that the monitoring procedure for Lubrizol was irregular," said Corinne Lepage. "We have already attacked the judgment of July 24 on the storage authorization given by the prefecture," said the former minister. "It is unacceptable," said counsel for Rouen Respire, commenting on the management of the file by the authorities.
"The flaws of the prefectoral prevention system"
The factory had been authorized last year to increase the quantity of polluting products stored, but on September 26, around 02:30 am, part of the Lubrizol factory and three buildings of the adjoining company, Normandie Logistique, were ravaged by a fire, which caused a 22 km long plume of black smoke. There were no casualties in the incident. A total of 9,505 tonnes of products, mostly chemicals, had burned.
For Olivier Blond, "the Rouen de Lubrizol accident showed the flaws in the prefectoral prevention system, and we expect the prefecture to prove that it has implemented an improved prevention system".
Society
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Justice
Lubrizol fire: Investigation extended to security breaches by companies
- Corinne lepage
- Lubrizol
- Fire
- Rouen
- Society