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Why the Lubrizol fire is scary

2020-02-28T21:57:20.960Z


VIDEO ANALYSIS - After September 26, 2019, distrust has settled in a large part of the Rouen population vis-à-vis the State, despite the authorities' efforts to be transparent. Five months later, many questions remain unanswered.


" We felt abandoned ". Charlotte Goujon, mayor of Petit-Quevilly, puts simple words on the feeling of his citizens at the time of the fire in Lubrizol. According to her, the crisis communication set up by the State was not up to the event. She points to incomplete information or contradictory instructions given by the prefecture. " We didn't want to raise the alarm so as not to stir up panic, " she notes . But suddenly, the residents had no information and heard explosions and saw the thick black smoke from the fire . ” Mistrust also arose when the lists of products stored at Lubrizol, a site classified as Seveso high threshold, were slow to be published even though bad smells persisted in the air.


"There is not enough counter-power against the industrialists"

Were the safety standards imposed at the Lubrizol factory sufficient? Lubrizol France general manager Isabelle Striga ensures that they have "all been respected" . The company goes even further and ensures "to have the technical elements to doubt that the fire is its responsibility" . However, the fire has taken place and its consequences continue to worry the population, with pollution that remains to be assessed.

Olivier Blond, president of the Rouen Respire association, which was formed after the fire, even criticizes the role of the authorities, who were supposed to prevent the risk of accident. "There is not enough counter-power against the industrialists" , he denounces. The Minister of Ecological Transition Élisabeth Borne presented an action plan which must strengthen inspections of dangerous industrial sites.

The fire could also call into question a real estate project estimated at several tens of millions of euros: the Flaubert eco-neighborhood. Will future residents be protected from factories "which are increasingly aging" questions Sébastien Bourdin, researcher and geographer at the Normandy School of Management. The construction of the first dwellings is planned for 2021.

Five months after the fire, the Lubrizol company was indicted by the Paris public prosecutor's office on February 27 for spillage of harmful substances and for failures to operate its factory which had caused "serious damage" to the environment . The Senate committee of inquiry is also due to issue its findings in early April.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-28

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