Bad press for an already controversial site.
A drilling vessel carrying out work within the framework of a wind farm project is at the origin of a "significant pollution" in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, announced Monday the maritime prefecture of the Atlantic.
This specifies that she seized the floor.
This ship, baptized Aeolus and belonging to the Van Oord company, declared "a 100-liter oil leak" on Monday at 6.30 am, according to a press release from the maritime prefecture.
"The pollution, first observed by the Cleanseanet satellite, then confirmed by a Customs plane at 2:20 p.m., caused a slick" 8.6 nautical long (15.9 km) and 1.5 nautical wide (2 , 8 km).
Read also In the Côtes-d'Armor, offshore wind power goes badly
"Faced with this significant pollution", the maritime prefecture indicates to have "quickly transmitted the elements observed to the public prosecutor of Brest, now in charge of the file".
It also sent the Sapper Support and Assistance Building (BSAA) and its pollution control equipment, scheduled for the area this Tuesday morning.
The ship leaves the area on Tuesday
The company Ailes Marines, which builds the wind farm, told the prefecture that the ship in question was to leave the bay of Saint-Brieuc on Tuesday morning "and join a Dutch port to conduct checks on the drilling equipment", according to the press release.
Bad timing for this project, which hosted its first major site visit on Monday.
The Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm is to be erected 16.3 km off the coast of Brittany.
With a total capacity of 496 MW, with 62 wind turbines, it is supposed to produce 1,820 GWh per year, the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 835,000 inhabitants, according to its promoter, Ailes Marines, a subsidiary of Spanish Iberdrola.