The fire at the Achères sewage treatment plant (Yvelines) just a year ago, that of a hazardous industrial waste treatment company in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône (Val-d'Oise) a months earlier, the leak on the Ile-de-France pipeline and its 900 cubic meters of crude oil spilled in the Autouillet and Boissy-sans-Avoir fields (Yvelines), the leak of 250 cubic meters of hydrocarbons on a Trapil pipeline in Argenteuil (Val-d'Oise)… With 209 accidents recorded last year in Ile-de-France, the industrial risk is indeed present. But it is above all the major accident at Lubrizol, this chemical factory in Rouen located in the heart of an area of a densely populated area, which has led the Regional Directorate for the Environment to be extra vigilant.
Over the last year as a whole, the 120 inspectors from the Regional Directorate for the Environment (Driee) carried out 200 more visits than the previous year, reaching 1,432 inspections, 150 checks on chemicals and 156 unplanned samples of the discharges were carried out. They resulted in 202 formal notices, 18 fines, 7 suspension of activities and 63 minutes.
24 inspections on Ile-de-France sites this year
This year, particular attention is paid to the Seveso sites in Ile-de-France with large external storage of flammable liquids, the configuration of the retention devices of which will be examined to prevent the risk of the spread of an inflamed tablecloth. "24 inspections on the subject are scheduled this year," says the Driee.
Always to learn the lessons of Lubrizol and identify possible domino effects, the case of the neighbors of these sites who exercise a dangerous industrial activity is now studied. "In the next three years, the inspectorate will identify classified installations, including small, located less than 100 m away and will check compliance with the regulations", specifies the Driee which has set itself to "aim, from this year, the entourage of at least half of the Seveso high threshold sites ”.
"Many recommendations are not followed"
But the action of these environmental inspectors is not limited to the 103 Seveso sites, which are only a small part of the 11,046 classified installations, including factories, workshops, depots, construction sites and other operations which can present dangers. for the neighborhood, for health, safety, public health, agriculture, protection of nature, the environment and landscapes.
And among them, a dozen are in the sights of the Driee, which loses patience with companies that are a little too late to follow its instructions. Driee sites who are “at stake in terms of risks or pollution” on which non-conformities have been identified “often accompanied by formal notices, however little followed” are annoyed, however they do not wish to expand on the identity of these companies for fear of trial. "These are not necessarily the worst companies, not all of them necessarily put their wills against it but it is necessary to put on a collar as many recommendations are not followed, while some date from a year or two" , we breathe in the Driee.
Essonne: fire simulation on a Seveso site
According to our information, certain installations of the treatment plant of the Interdepartmental Syndicate for the sanitation of the Parisian agglomeration, which manages the cleaning of waste water of nine of the twelve million inhabitants of Ile-de-France and which was the victim of a major fire in Achères just a year ago, are part of these "10 problematic sites" now "under heightened vigilance to accelerate the return to compliance. On the program: inspections, unannounced checks, discussions with the parent company, joint checks with other departments, etc. ”A review of this reinforced system is planned for early next year.
