Caroline Baudry edited by Solène Delinger 8:03 pm, September 26, 2021

Two years to the day after the spectacular fire at the Lubrizol chemical plant in Rouen, the fear of significant long-term health effects remains.

A hundred people marched this Sunday in front of the Rouen prefecture to demand full transparency about the event.

Reporting. 

REPORTING

Two years to the day, after the Lubrizol fire, associations, residents and activists were once again in the streets of Rouen to demand justice and denounce the possible repercussions on the health of those exposed.

200 people participated in the procession. 

"The State must be by our side" 

They shouted their anger and demanded full transparency on the event while gray areas still remain.

"Yes, all is not said", insists Simon de Carvalho, president of the association of the victims of Lubrizol.

Two years ago, he was forced to flee his smoke-polluted home with his baby in his arms.

He has since refused to drink tap water.

"We felt that the taste had changed," he says.

"There is too much chlorine. And today, you see, I have just been given a USB key with the analyzes of the water that we drink, we residents. This is proof of the pollution peaks in 2019. It is not for us to bring that. The State must be by our side, "insists Simon de Carvalho. 

The prefecture refuses to provide a key document

This document will be sent to justice as part of the criminal investigation opened against Lubrizol. Already prosecuted, the plant was again indicted on September 14 for "dumping harmful substances into the water". Julia Massardier, the lawyer for the disaster victims association, is now trying to access the study of dangers. A document that establishes the risks associated with the establishment of such a plant. "The prefecture has this document. When I asked for it, they provided me with a document with parts masked in black, only missing pages. It cannot be used," she laments. "We need it to be able to seize the administrative court and question the responsibility of the State in this affair".   

The prefect refuses to provide the complete document for security reasons.

He recalls that nearly 6,500 samples have been taken and made public since the fire.

All are found to comply with the regulatory threshold.