Enedis was sentenced Monday to a fine of 30,000 euros suspended for work carried out without authorization in the heart of the Calanques National Park which had caused the destruction of plants of eighteen plant species including the highly protected astragalus of Marseille.
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Enedis was authorized in 2017 by the national park to carry out work on the roadway leading to the Calanque de Callelongue, the end of the Marseille urbanization, for the burying of the electricity network and the laying of ducts on behalf of the municipal lighting and telephone operators. As the work was not completed on June 30, 2018, it resumed in September but without Enedis having obtained a new authorization. A mechanical shovel had destroyed the vegetation on 70 m² of embankment and a rock breaker had been placed in a prohibited place. The first phase of work covered by an authorization from the Park had been carried out under the supervision of an environmental design office which had drawn with chalk the areas prohibited for the circulation of machinery.When resumed in September, these terms and conditions had not been renewed due to the lack of authorization and the markings had been erased.
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Protected species damaged
Enedis and one of its project managers were tried for work without authorization in a national park, the delegated company and its site manager for destruction of protected plant species and degradation of their habitats.
Enedis' charge d'affaires did not dispute that the work had resumed without authorization.
“
I had several projects and moved on
,” he said.
At the helm, an inspector of the National Park reported significant damage, the destruction of eighteen protected species such as the "
false stonecrop
" or "
the anthemis with branches turned on the same side.
»But above all five feet of astragalus from Marseille.
The 5,000 feet of astragalus recorded in France are mainly located in the creeks of Marseille.
Endangered, this flowering bush benefits from the Life Habitats Calanques project financed by European funds.
Warning convictions
"
The damage is not contested by anyone, but it is nobody's fault
," lamented prosecutor Michel Sastre. The magistrate wanted "
warning sentences so that tomorrow these companies return to the sites in a virtuous way
". The court handed down suspended fines ranging from 2,000 euros for the site manager of the delegated company to 30,000 euros for Enedis. Owner of the sacked plot, the departmental council of Bouches-du-Rhône intends to have an expert quantify the amount of the restoration of the premises before claiming damages from the four defendants.
