Lille (AFP)
A hundred communes of Hauts-de-France "would have been impacted by the fallout of the plume of smoke" fire of Lubrizol chemical plant in Rouen, according to the authorities who have banned "as a precautionary" the harvest of crops and food of animal origin.
"The fallout of soot caused by this cloud on agricultural production areas are likely to present a public health risk that requires us to take immediate precautionary measures guided by the precautionary principle", justifies the prefecture of the region.
Milk, honey collected and eggs raised in open air since Thursday "are recorded under the responsibility of the operator until obtaining sanitary guarantees on the productions, on the basis of official controls," can be read in the decrees of prefectures published Sunday.
"In the absence of satisfactory sanitary guarantees, these products will be removed from human consumption and animal feed and destroyed", add the texts. Crops not harvested before Thursday or likely to have been exposed to contamination are also recorded. Failure to comply with this measure is punishable by two years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros.
Once the consignment is lifted, the placing on the market "will be carried out under the responsibility of the operator" who will have to carry out health checks of his products himself.
A hundred communes "would have been impacted by the fallout of the plume of smoke" mainly in the Oise, Aisne and Somme, according to the "evolutionary list" of the regional prefecture published Sunday evening, established "on the basis of reports of individuals, with a cross-referencing of information by the State services ". Many villages but also agglomerations such as Saint-Quentin or Douai.
The cloud of smoke from the Lubrizol chemical plant fire that flew over the Hauts-de-France "was not of acute toxicity", according to the authorities. But reports of soot led the Regional Health Agency of Hauts-de-France to ask residents Sunday to report to the various services "the presence of fallout in the form of soot."
"Soot particle fallout has been reported, but it is not measured by Atmo's (air monitoring body) measuring instruments, which continuously monitor very small particles (less than 2, 5 microns in diameter), not visible to the naked eye ", adds the prefecture.
After heavy showers fell Sunday in Lille, the deputy of northern LFI Adrien Quatennens found around 18:00 of the "black dust and sticky on the Velux".
"Can we know what it's all about?", He added on Twitter, under two photos showing black marks on a window and paper towel. Lille did not appear Sunday night on the list.
Prime Minister Édouard Philippe assured Sunday that "the commitment of the government is to answer all questions and to make the total transparency".
© 2019 AFP