• The arrival of a crusher in Muhlbach-sur-Munster put some of the inhabitants in turmoil.

  • Active for three weeks between March and April, the machine was used for the earthworks of a construction site for a local public works company.

  • A group of residents of this village nestled in a deep valley calls on the mayor to provide more information on the subject, because he fears that the noise pollution will be permanent.

It has disappeared from the landscape but, to hear a local resident, it is as if the noise still echoed in the valley.

In Muhlbach-sur-Munster (Haut-Rhin), the arrival of a crusher on the site of the old landfill at the end of March caused quite a stir in this town of 800 inhabitants, nestled in a deep valley.

To the point of generating the creation of a collective called "Muhlbach in the countryside", whose objective is "the organization of a public meeting open to all for precise information on the development of the site", located opposite the village.

“zero communication”

This is the crux of the problem: for several months, a gap has grown between some residents and the mayor Patrick Althusser.

At issue: the decision of the municipality to sell the fallow land of the old quarry to the public works company Fritsch/Werey.

Or rather “zero communication with the municipality” which would have followed, deplores a member of the collective, while the company wishes to install offices and places to store vehicles and equipment there.

"What's funny", quips a witness, "is that the same mayor who made the buzz two years ago to defend the noises of nature today authorizes a construction company to set up shop opposite of the village to carry out recycling activities for construction materials".

In 2020, the elected official installed a sign with a caustic message for people who complain about the noise pollution linked to rural life.

Since then, the situation has become seriously tense with part of the population, faced with a "fait accompli" with the arrival of a crusher in early March, and the fear that this installation will become permanent.

“There would be no subject if there were dialogues”, plague a member of the collective.

“Activities that make noise, we don't want them!

»

“We found out when the work started to get serious.

The noise of the new construction site is intolerable, it drives you crazy!

“, blows a member of” Muhlbach in the countryside “who wishes to remain anonymous” because of the rather deleterious climate “: “That the company settles for offices and workshops, we are not against.

But activities that make noise, we don't want them!

»

While the crusher left the place at the end of April, the collective remains in expectation: “There was no official reaction, just rumours.

The mayor never wanted to organize an information meeting, when we would just like us to answer our questions, to know what is going on!

In the long term, the collective fears that the company will set up “noisy recycling activities (crushing, grinding, screening)”.

"I don't understand what they didn't understand..."

Faced with these criticisms, Patrick Althusser is circumspect: “For us, it was clear!

I don't understand what they didn't understand..." The mayor mentions "an interview that the collective had with the two managers of the company" during which the latter explained their approach: "The only activity likely to make noise, it will be the crushing of plants and wood which will be used to heat the premises.

It will not be a commercial activity, and the noise has nothing to do with that of a crusher!

»

As for the famous crusher, it will reappear "at the end of October, beginning of November for a few days, before disappearing definitively", indicates the elected official who confirms that the company's project is to build "offices, as well as storage premises for materials and machinery”.

“At some point, enough is enough”

If he recognizes "a possible fault in the communication", Patrick Althusser is quite annoyed by the reproaches which are addressed to him: "The municipal council took the decision, all the solicited private individuals sold their land and the administration studied the project.

Stop saying it's the mayor's fault!

»

For his part, Olivier Kirchenmeyer, manager of BTP Fritsch/Werey, says he is “tired of all that”: “We have already met the people from the collective, but at some point that is enough.

We are a small company and there is a whole controversy when we just want to build new premises.

“One certainty: in Muhlbach-sur-Munster, if there is no whale under gravel, there is at least frying on the line.

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