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In France, some 2,000 people, according to the CGT and a police source, demonstrated Tuesday evening October 1 in the city of Rouen. They denounce the chemical group and the attitude of the authorities suspected of "hiding the truth" about the consequences of the Lubrizol factory fire in Rouen.
The authorities announced that 5,253 tonnes of chemicals had been destroyed in the accident and published documents to reassure the population.
" All products are not dangerous, " says the prefecture of Seine-Maritime on its site. The list of products burned on Tuesday is accompanied by documents that specify that " the dangerousness depends on the amount present, the fate of the molecules after burning and how one is exposed (skin contact, inhalation, ingestion) ".
479 safety data sheets that " specify the characteristics of the products and the associated risks, especially in the event of combustion " are also included in the published documents.
A campaign of air, water, soil and food sampling began immediately after the outbreak of the fire, say the authorities. It will continue the necessary time and will allow an assessment of health risks. An adapted sanitary surveillance will be put in place, still promises the prefecture.
► To read also: France: what do we know about the fire of the Lubrizol factory in Rouen?
" Lubrizol guilty, the complicit State " ,
In the meantime some 2,000 people demonstrated in the evening in Rouen to claim the truth. " Lubrizol guilty, the complicit state ," chanted the protesters left the courthouse in the late afternoon before joining the prefecture of Normandy. " What are we breathing since Thursday? We breathe shit! A young woman was carrying off.
At the center of the population's demands: to know which products have burned in the Lubrizol plant and how dangerous they are.
" We continue to say that there is nothing, that the air is as pure as before and that we do not have to worry and that is very disturbing. We ask the prefect, the state, to really give us a clear diagnosis of what happened, the particles that were burned, the real dangers to health, "said a protester.
Many young people also came to express their distress, like this 20-year-old student who denounces arrangements with reality: " For example when the prefect says that pollution is as usual in Rouen, it does not say what molecule it is in the air. The pollution may be the same, but the molecules may be different, it's extremely vague, "he said.
Finally, the other claim is that Lubrizol pays the costs of cleaning the pollution. " How would it be for the taxpayer to pay something for an accident for which he is not responsible, " the man asked. Of course, it's up to Lubrizol to pay. "
And then, sign of distrust of the population towards the state, it is before the prefecture of Seine-Maritime that ended the event.
Nearly a hundred people also gathered in the evening in front of the Lille Prefecture to demand "the whole truth ".
Since the accident, the government has been reassuring and promises " transparency ", but without convincing. Concerned residents still complain of nausea and vomiting five days after the accident.
► To read also: Lubrizol, back of the flame of the inhabitants on the social networks