Suspended on July 25 because of a protection against lead considered insufficient, the yard of Notre-Dame de Paris will resume from the week of August 12 with enhanced procedures and additional means of decontamination, announced Friday, August 2 , the prefect of the Île-de-France region.
The labor inspectorate said in a report issued on 23 July that the decontamination facilities were undersized and that the precautionary rules were not systematically applied. About 400 tons of lead melted during the cathedral fire on April 15. Part of it was scattered in the center of Paris, exposing workers and residents to
toxic dust.
New decontamination units
The prefecture specifies that new decontamination units will be installed during the week of August 12 and that the site can then gradually resume. These measures "guarantee both the safety of personnel working on the site and a strict control of inputs and outputs," she wrote in a statement.
More footbaths and decontamination showers will be installed. Procedures for the movement of equipment and people and the methods of decontamination of workers during their movement from one area to another (interior / forecourt, etc.) have been reviewed. The staff will be trained and informed. Thirty to 40 people can work on the site at the same time instead of 60 to 70 people before the suspension, says the prefecture.
Dust samples
The prefecture also points out that labor inspectors made contact with the businesses and businesses located near the Notre-Dame site in the 4th, 5th and 6th arrondissements, to ask them to "have dust samples taken".
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In late July, the environmental protection association Robin des Bois filed a complaint against X for endangering others. Lead levels above the vigilance threshold were measured in children and schools nearby and schools were closed at the end of July for cleaning .
With Reuters and AFP