Europe 1 with AFP 5:05 p.m., September 16, 2021
On September 26, 2019, a gigantic fire occurred in Rouen on an automotive lubricants site classified as Seveso high threshold.
The Lubrizol company was indicted for the first time on February 24, 2020, already for "spillage of harmful substances" but also for "non-compliant operation of a classified installation".
Almost two years after the huge fire in Rouen, the Lubrizol company was again indicted on Tuesday for environmental damage, AFP learned Thursday from a judicial source, confirming information from 76actu.
"The Lubrizol company was indicted on September 14 on charges of dumping harmful substances into water and discharging substances harmful to fish into fresh water," confirmed the judicial source.
A "satisfaction" for associations
"The file is very solid concerning these two new facts, it is based on numerous samples and analyzes in the dock, with enough elements to speak of acute toxicity, it affects fish but it is risky for humans too" , told AFP Simon de Carvalho, who chairs the Association of victims of Lubrizol (ASL), civil party.
"It is a satisfaction, our associations do not stop trying to prove that there is pollution," said Christophe Holleville, secretary of the Union of victims of Lubrizol.
The Lubrizol company or its lawyer were not immediately available for comment.
The company was indicted for the first time on February 24, 2020, already for "spillage of harmful substances" but also for "non-compliant operation of a classified installation" having caused environmental damage.
The company was criticized "for not having taken all measures to prevent the significant spread of the fire and the resulting environmental damage," said a source familiar with the matter.
Fire of 10,000 tons of chemicals
Placed under judicial supervision, the group had to pay a deposit of 375,000 euros and constitute a "security" of 4 million euros aimed at repairing "human and environmental damage" possibly attributable to the fire. In this huge fire in Rouen, which occurred on September 26, 2019 on an automotive lubricants site classified as Seveso high threshold, nearly 10,000 tons of chemicals had burned, while a huge cloud of black smoke 22 km long had form. The fire caused no casualties.
The Normandie Logistique company, whose warehouses adjoining the Lubrizol factory had also been destroyed by the incident, had for its part been placed under the intermediary status of assisted witness. Lubrizol has been under the control of American billionaire Warren Buffett since 2011, via his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, which bought the group for $ 9.7 billion.