Thibaud Hue 06:23, May 09, 2022

The backfilling of a quarry, located in the loops of the Seine, with waste from Grand-Paris has caused a strong reaction from the inhabitants of Bardouville who will be impacted by heavy truck traffic.

The project, which should be spread over four years, is very badly received by local residents who are mobilizing to appeal to justice.

This is a highly controversial project.

The prefect of Seine-Maritime has authorized the storage of waste from Greater Paris, in an abandoned quarry, in Mauny, near Rouen.

The neighboring village, Bardouville, will be crossed for four years by hundreds of trucks which will transport the rubble from the barges docked a few kilometers away, in Anneville-Ambourville.

So the pill does not pass for the inhabitants of Bardouville.

In this quiet town of 600 inhabitants, the calm may not last and this prospect is unbearable for the residents.

A standoff has been engaged with the prefecture.

"120 to 150 trucks will pass here"

The mayor of the city, Dominique Rousseau, points to the huge chalk quarry where 390,000 tonnes of inert waste, normally unpolluted, from the works of Greater Paris will be dumped.

The elected official fears that the arrival of trucks will disrupt the safety of passers-by: “Per day, 120 to 150 trucks will pass here. There is a school stop which is located 52 meters from the entrance. How are we going to do it? “, he launches.

At the same time, a truck takes the tight bend that borders the entrance to the quarry.

“You will see how he will move!”, challenges the mayor.

"Children will no longer have the freedom they have to cycle quietly here", he regrets.

The feeling of being sacrificed

Local residents, like Nathalie Aubert, president of the association Les pieds dans l'eau, which rejects the project, have the impression of being sacrificed.

In the middle of her garden located a hundred meters from the point of tension, this resident explains, annoyed.

“I have green, yellow, blue flowers… But tomorrow, we will always be gray because of the dust from the waste that will settle everywhere”, she explains, fearing that the rubble will be polluted.

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For several months, with the members of the association, she has been fighting to prevent the arrival of trucks: "We consider the banks of the Seine as the trash can of Greater Paris, and although they come directly to pour the trash cans on my terrace. It will be much more convenient and at least I will have a reason to move."

The prefecture rectifies the shooting

The other sticking point is that of compensation.

The commune of Mauny, which hosts the quarry, must receive compensation of 0.20 centimes per ton of waste.

The prefecture specifies that the amount could amount to a maximum of 100,000 euros.

But Bardouville, despite the passage of trucks, will not touch anything.

"Intolerable", confides the mayor who specifies that whatever happens: "I do not want money, I will not sell the inhabitants and my commune".

Since these protests, the prefect of Seine-Maritime has already backpedaled.

Trucks will not be able to circulate on weekends, public holidays, or during school entry and exit times.

The traffic of these vehicles may not exceed 11% of daily traffic.

Insufficient for Nathalie Aubert who will not let go: "If one day there are trucks that dare to reach the quarry, they had better have a reverse gear."