REPORTAGE
In Marseille, 22 residents and six associations went to file a complaint Tuesday afternoon against X for "endangering the lives of others". They denounce pollution that has lasted for years at the foot of the Calanques National Park. It would come from an old industrial site which, for two centuries, manufactured lead and tartaric acid.
The soils of this wasteland, located between the sea and the hills, are polluted with heavy metals. Located opposite the coast, the Legré Mante factory has never been cleaned up. Eight hectares have been abandoned for years.
Toxic substances buried in the soil
Faced with this observation, residents ask that the public authorities take charge of the matter. This is the case of Michelle, 69, for whom the depollution of this area represents a health emergency. "I feel angry," she says. "There have been many cancers, illnesses, pathologies. The flora and fauna are polluted.
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Some have a vegetable garden and are not even sure they are eating good produce. I ask on we clean up [the site] in an intelligent way to protect the populations and not to dig deep because that will bring out everything ", adds this local resident.
Future work that worries
Since a real estate project is underway, remediation is necessary on this land loaded with lead, arsenic and cadmium. A future apprehended by the plaintiffs' lawyer, Julie Andrieu. "There is going to be work. How is it going to happen since we are going to have to touch these soils which are extremely polluted", she wonders. "There are absolutely no indications of protection for residents, tourists or walkers of the Calanques National Park."
The residents' associations thus denounce negligence on the part of the public authorities. They would also like to have a precise inventory of this invisible underground pollution.