INTERVIEW
At the microphone of Wendy Bouchard, Ginette Vastel administrator and co-pilot of the network risks and industrial impacts at France nature environment spoke about the health risks following the fire of a chemical plant in Rouen, Thursday. She denounces a communication still too partial.
READ ALSO - "We are hanging on analyzes": near Rouen, farmers angry
"In France nature environment, we regret that it is Sunday and that, for a fire that happened Thursday, we still do not know all the products that have burned.In order to have an idea of the risks, we must know this list of products.Today measures have been made, but they are correct only for specific pollutants, "she says.
Saturday, the prefect of Normandy, Pierre-André Durand, presented the results of various analyzes and referred to a "normal situation" of air quality, except at the Lubrizol site where benzene was detected. But Ginette Vastel thinks it's not enough. Because, for the moment, the doubt still hangs over the "products of degradation". "When you have a product that burns, at the exit you do not find the same product.You find a product that is modified.These are the products that you need to know to know if there is a risk," denounces -t it.
Ginette Vastel therefore proposes to "study the soot" to determine the "products in the plume that have cooled and deposited". "If samples were taken in the plume and studied in a specialized laboratory, we do not know if studies were commissioned on soot, we do not know either," she complains.
An announcement of results too late
While the fire took place three days ago, Ginette Vastel also points the lack of speed concerning the disclosure of the results. "It's long, other analyzes may be underway but we do not have the results, but why not say what kind of analysis is going on?" that people do not trust what is said, "she says.
Ginette Vastel also believes that "the list of products that have burned" is "not complicated to obtain". "When you're on a Seveso site, you always have a list of the products you're storing - storing products in such a site is one of the things you're looking at," she says.
On Saturday, several unions, including the CGT and Solidaires, but also environmental groups (Greenpeace, France nature environment) called for demonstrations Tuesday at 18 hours in front of the courthouse in Rouen, demanding "complete transparency" on this industrial accident . In a joint statement, they regret that "the list of products that burned was not communicated".