- A decision of the Lille administrative court makes the State partly responsible for the pollution in the Lille metropolis.
- This judgment follows a procedure initiated by a former elected environmentalist to have it recognized that her chronic sinusitis was due to air pollution.
The State partly responsible for pollution in the metropolis of Lille. This time, it is a judgment of the Lille administrative court which says so in a decision concerning a request filed in 2017 by the former elected ecologist of the North, Sandrine Rousseau.
The latter had initiated legal proceedings to have it recognized that her chronic sinusitis was due to air pollution. And that the state was doing nothing to combat this pollution.
Insufficient improvement in air quality
The TA rejected Sandrine Rousseau's request and compensation claims, finding that the link between pollution and illness could not be proven. But he nevertheless retained the responsibility of the State. "For not having taken, for the metropolis of Lille, an atmospheric protection plan likely to reduce the exceedances of the limit values of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide", specifies the ecologist.
In its decision, the TA wrote: "It follows [...] that the insufficient improvement in air quality in the Lille conurbation characterizes a State fault in the performance [of its] obligations. A new pavement in the pond of the State, already condemned for its lack of action in the fight against air pollution.
Protection of citizens' health
Because, as surprising as it may seem, the Lille metropolis is not one of the 14 agglomerations targeted by the Court of Justice of the European Union. In October 2019, this legal body had condemned France for violations of its community obligations in the fight against air pollution.
"The biggest problem in Lille concerns very fine PM 2.5 particles for which there is no regulation", emphasizes Sandrine Rousseau who "hopes that this court decision will help to pass a course in the fight against pollution of the 'air, especially in the metropolis of Lille, and in protecting the health of citizens'.
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