Paris (AFP)
"Four incidents in 18 months is a lot," was alarmed Tuesday the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Ecological Transition after the fire Wednesday a unit of the wastewater treatment plant Achères (Yvelines) , classified Seveso, resulting in serious pollution of the Seine.
"The state is the guarantor of the quality of water (...), we can not continue to notice incidents," fired Emmanuelle Wargon at a press point, after meeting representatives of the Interdepartmental Union for sanitation of the Paris conurbation (Siaap) which manages the site.
"The Siaap is working on the causes (...), how we do to spend the summer," she added, while this site classified Seveso "high threshold" due to toxic risks has since February 2018 experienced three fires and a release of fumes due to a mixture of chemicals.
Wargon said that the quality of water discharged into the Seine by the site Achères had returned to its "usual" level, while five tons of dead fish have already been recovered downstream from the station since Wednesday.
The fish fauna was the victim of a lack of oxygen after the discharge into the Seine of waters loaded with organic matter, because of the cessation of the operation of the reprocessing unit burned.
The analysis of impacts on biodiversity may take "several weeks", the minister said. "We are not yet aware of the damage, but if there is direct or indirect damage to compensation, we will compensate," she assured.
The prefect of Yvelines Jean-Jacques Brot added that under "the polluter pays principle, the Siapp (would) rebuild the spawning grounds and restocking".
A judicial inquiry was opened, entrusted to the police station of Saint-Germain-en-Laye to determine the causes of the incident. An internal investigation is also underway.
The treatment plant, created in 1940 and spread over 250 hectares, is the largest in Europe and normally handles 60% of wastewater in the Paris area. It has only processed about 40% since the incident.
? 2019 AFP