The maritime prefecture announced Tuesday that a drilling ship, carrying out work in the bay of Saint-Brieuc to build a wind farm, is at the origin of "pollution of significant magnitude".
The prosecution was seized.
For her part, the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili summoned the promoter of the wind farm.
A drilling ship carrying out work within the framework of a wind farm project is at the origin of a "significant pollution" in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, announced the maritime prefecture which seized the parquet floor.
This ship, baptized Aeolus and belonging to the Van Oord company, declared "a 100-liter oil leak" on Monday at 06:30, according to a press release from the Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic.
The ship was due to leave the bay on Tuesday morning
"The pollution, first observed by the Cleanseanet satellite, then confirmed by a Customs plane at 2:20 p.m., caused a slick" 8.6 nautical long (15.9 km) and 1.5 nautical wide (2 , 8 km). "Faced with this significant pollution", the maritime prefecture indicates having "quickly transmitted the elements observed to the public prosecutor of Brest, now in charge of the case". In addition, the maritime prefect sent the Sapper Support and Assistance Building (BSAA) and its pollution control equipment, which was due to arrive in the area on Tuesday morning.
The company Ailes Marines, which builds the wind farm, told the prefecture that the ship in question was to leave the bay of Saint-Brieuc on Tuesday morning "and join a Dutch port to conduct checks on the drilling equipment", according to the press release.
The promoter of the wind farm summoned by Barbara Pompili
In the process, the Minister of Ecological Transition announced that she had summoned the managers of the Spanish energy group Iberdrola, the parent company of the promoter of the wind farm project.
"I will not tolerate any negligence in the deployment of wind farms at sea. I immediately summon the managers of Iberdrola, builder of the Saint-Brieuc wind farm, to explain the situation," said Barbara Pompili on Twitter .
I will not tolerate any negligence in the deployment of wind farms at sea. I immediately summon the managers of Iberdrola, builder of the Saint-Brieuc farm, to explain the situation.
- Barbara Pompili (@barbarapompili) June 15, 2021
The Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm is to be erected 16.3 kilometers off the coast of Brittany.
With a total capacity of 496 MW, with 62 wind turbines, it is supposed to produce 1,820 GWh per year, the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 inhabitants, according to its promoter, Ailes Marines, a subsidiary of Spanish Iberdrola.