Paris (AFP)
Factories of the French dairy group Lactalis do not respect the environmental code in France, with pollution of various kinds, according to an investigation published Monday by the investigative media Disclose.
The investigative website, which worked in a partnership with Mediapart, Brut, France Culture, The Guardian, Special Envoy (France2) and the investigation site Le Poulpe, was particularly interested in industrial installations. in France of the dairy giant, which has 250 across the world.
According to Disclose, "between 2010 and today (...) 38 Lactalis factories have been or still are in violation of the environmental code" in France, "that is to say more than half of the 60 establishments listed and analyzed within the framework of this investigation ".
Disclose was based on documents from the Regional Directorates for the Environment (DREAL) and the Departmental Directorates for Social Cohesion and Population Protection (DDCSPP).
These factories are classified installations for the protection of the environment, also called IPCE.
They cite as an example a cheese factory of the Lactalis group in Isère, sentenced in 2019 to a fine of 100,000 euros, including 50,000 suspended sentences for its effluent discharges into a river, the dairy company of Retiers, in Ille-et-Vilaine, a subsidiary de Lactalis, sentenced to 250,000 euros for polluting the La Seiche river, or even rejections from the Riom cheese company.
"It is true that some of our sites may present occasional non-conformities, but each time we offer a solution quickly to resolve these incidents", a spokesperson for the Lactalis group told AFP, highlighting " 60 million euros invested since 2010 "for the modernization of environmental tools.
Disclose also cites cases where the analyzes of pollutant discharges carried out by Lactalis do not correspond to those carried out by inspectors.
"At one time or another, there may be non-conformities, but it does not stay like that. We have inspections, we have procedures", reacts the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili, according to the script of an interview with Disclose sent by the ministry to AFP.
Companies carry out self-checks at the wastewater treatment plants of factories, but "there are also unannounced checks", adds Pascal Lagrabe, deputy director of the Police Department at the French Biodiversity Office (OFB ).
France Nature Environnement (FNE), which brings together 3,500 associations, intends to lodge a complaint about the Riom site, a spokesperson said, qualifying the documents unveiled by Disclose as "solid".
Local associations report pollution linked to Lactalis sites in Pays-de-la-Loire or even in Brittany, she added.
© 2020 AFP