Spraying of pesticides is suspected of having caused discomfort in a school in Villeneuve-de-Blaye in Gironde.

-

ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

A victory for the environment, according to the environmental association Sepanso, a decision "deeply unfair", for the lawyer of Château Escalette.

Relaxed at first instance, two Bordeaux châteaux which in 2014 sprayed fungicides near a school where students and a teacher had been ill, were sentenced Wednesday on appeal to a suspended fine of 5,000 euros , we learned from lawyers.

The public prosecutor's office appealed against the release pronounced by the Libourne criminal court in April 2019 in favor of the castles Castel La Rose and Escalette (Côtes de Bourg appellation) which were being sued in particular by Sepanso (affiliated with France Nature Environment) for " inappropriate use of plant protection products'.

Itchy eyes and sore throat

In May 2014, students and a teacher from Villeneuve-de-Blaye primary school complained in particular of stinging eyes and sore throats, immediately after spraying the neighboring vines of fungicides, of authorized products. but potentially toxic.

The teacher must have been hospitalized for one day.

"It's a victory for children, for the environment, for common sense", responded to AFP the lawyer of the Sepanso Me François Ruffié, confirming the decision of the Court of Appeal revealed by the daily

Sud Ouest

.

“The court considered that the appropriate means had not been used.

"

"Now they prevent (spreading), they choose appropriate time slots"

This case, initially closed without follow-up before the opening of a judicial investigation in Libourne, "made a lot of noise and changed the discourse, the practices" of wine growers, he added.

The court asked the defendants if their practices had changed, and "now they prevent (spreading), they choose appropriate time slots, and stop when asked to stop", added Me Ruffié.

"The judgment says that my customers did not have an anemometer (wind measuring instrument) and (therefore) did not implement all the appropriate means" to prevent the spreading from spreading beyond plots, explained to AFP Me Sophie Clavel, lawyer for Château Escalette.

“However, the general text which says that sufficiently appropriate means must be implemented (….) Does not list them precisely.

They are condemned on the basis of an imprecise text.

While the manager is an extremely respectful man of the land, who does not spray hastily without noticing the consequences… ”

A judgment "intended to set a precedent and modernize wine practices"

"It is also a half-hearted decision, she continues, because yes (the two castles) are condemned but the sentence remains light because the court knows full well that they serve as an example".

She considers that the judgment is "intended to establish jurisprudence and to modernize wine-growing practices".

The castles were also ordered to jointly pay 3,000 euros in damages to each of the two civil parties, Sepanso and Future generations.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux: An online kitty to measure pesticide residues in wine

Bordeaux

Gironde: Fungicides applied to vines found in the air of Médoc and Bordeaux

  • Pollution

  • Bordeaux

  • Vineyard

  • Justice

  • Planet

  • Aquitaine

  • Pesticides