Pesticide pollution has been identified in the Seine, near Rouen, the Rouen metropolis announced on Tuesday, which announced its intention to file a complaint.
Read also: Has the use of pesticides in French agriculture really jumped by 25% in 10 years?
The pollution, which caused a blue coloration over an area of 500 m2, was spotted on Saturday, May 22, the metropolis said in a press release.
“The leak from a tank belonging to a transport company located on Chemin de Croisset in Canteleu is the cause. According to our information, the pesticide product contains neonicotinoids, in particular thiamethoxam, a highly harmful substance, very soluble in water, banned in France for nearly three years! "
, continues the metropolis.
"If these elements were to be confirmed, it would be absolutely scandalous if such substances could have been stored and circulated on the territory, without adequate control or transparency",
adds the
press
release from the metropolis which will
“File a complaint against X in connection with this event”
.
"New scandal"
Quoted in the press release, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, president (PS) of the metropolis, and Charlotte Goujon, vice-president in charge of industrial and health risks, described this event as a
“new scandal”
.
“The heavy rains would have favored the flow of the product to the Seine.
A year and a half after the fire of September 26, 2019 [in Lubrizol, editor's note], our territory is again contaminated, ”
denounced the elected officials.
They ask the Prefect of Seine-Maritime to
"make public all the elements at his disposal making it possible to explain the circumstances and consequences of this event"
, to explain
"why this company is stocking products whose use is prohibited. "
And to say
" what are the concrete effects on the Seine of this pollution, for the populations, the fauna, the flora "
.
