Nineteen years after the explosion of the AZF factory in Toulouse, which left 31 dead on September 21, 2001, and when the explosion of warehouses in the port of Beirut killed nearly 200 people on August 4 in Lebanon, the question of the storage of agricultural ammonium nitrate comes back in the minds.
Especially since the storage points for farmers are numerous in Ile-de-France
Bénédicte Monville (social ecology), the elected opposition member in Melun and regional advisor, calls for a rally in front of the silos of the Valfrance agricultural cooperative in Vaux-le-Pénil, near Melun, on September 26, a day of mobilization against industrial risks.
Since 2010, the site has been storing solid fertilizers, one of the components of which is… ammonium nitrate.
On September 16, according to the official Géorisques website, the quantity stored, visible under the nomenclature 4702, was 1600 tonnes on the one hand and 1249 tonnes on the other hand, for a total of 2,849 tonnes.
On September 20, the posted tonnage was even revised upwards with 1249 tonnes and 2100 tonnes, for a total of 3349 tonnes.
100,000 inhabitants live within 4 km of the factory
In Beirut, the site which exploded kept 2,750 tons of agricultural ammonium nitrate.
Is there a danger for the population near Valfrance?
More than 100,000 inhabitants are concerned in Vaux-le-Pénil, Livry-sur-Seine, Melun, Le Mée, Dammarie-les-Lys, municipalities all located within a maximum radius of 4 km maximum as the crow flies from the silos .
At Melun city council last Thursday, Bénédicte Monville questioned the mayor of Melun Louis Vogel (Agir) on the subject.
The latter promised an “argued” response within two weeks.
In addition to the rally to "demand precise information and the end of fertilizers based on ammonium nitrate", the elected ecologist wrote to the prefects of the Region and Seine-et-Marne.
.
Vaux-le-Pénil, September 17.
These gigantic silos have become part of the Route de Chartrettes landscape.
LP / Sophie Bordier
Valfrance is a classified site known as “with authorization” but it is not for all that classified Seveso.
Asked about this, the Seine-et-Marne prefecture affirmed that “section 4,702 specifies different types of fertilizers.
“The Valfrance site is authorized to store a total of 2,100 tonnes of simple solid fertilizers containing in particular, but not only, ammonium nitrate.
"
In the prefecture, it is also specified that "the inspection of classified installations of the Regional and Interdepartmental Directorate for the Environment and Energy of Ile-de-France (DRIEE) passes at least once every three years to verify compliance with regulations ”.
The last inspection was on November 22, 2019.
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Paul Poullain, president of the Group of companies studying security and prevention against fire risks (GEESPI), has another reading of the figures.
“It's astonishing that the Géorisques site has been upgraded in the space of a few days.
It doesn't help to trust.
Item 4702 relates to ammonium nitrate anyway.
The site subject to authorization should be classified Seveso low threshold because it exceeds 2,500 tonnes, ”he commented.
Explosive under special conditions
According to Paul Poullain, “whatever the percentage of nitrogen in fertilizers, the risk of explosion is similar”.
“Agricultural ammonium nitrate is not explosive on its own.
It becomes so if 0.2% organic matter is added or in the event of a fire.
"
And to detail: “If the frame of the storage building is made of wood, chips fall and it catches fire, we are in an explosive situation.
If there is dust in the hangar, which is organic matter, it can also explode.
Knowledge of risk in France is catastrophic ”.
Vaux-le-Pénil, September 18.
Installed in her apartment near the silos since 1985, Claudine deplores the dust coming from the site.
LP / SB
Laurent Vittoz, CEO of Valfrance, is on the contrary reassuring.
“Ammonium nitrate is one of the components of our agricultural fertilizers which are non-explosive products.
They are made completely inert by the addition of a filler (dolomite, lime, clays) which removes their ability to explode.
Before we buy them, our supplier subjects them to detonation tests to ensure that they are not explosive, ”he explains.
"We are subject to strict rules, subject to controls"
He also mentions a "short storage period", from two to four months, "not like in Beirut where they had been kept there for six years, and therefore subjected to temperature variations which degrade them".
"If people are worried, I cannot show them around, but we can organize a town hall meeting", assures Laurent Vittoz.
Vaux-le-Pénil, September 17.
Former employee of a fertilizer factory in Dammarie, this fisherman is rather wary of the silos containing agricultural ammonium nitrate fertilizers opposite.
LP / Sophie Bordier
And to insist: "We are subject to strict rules, subject to controls.
In case of fire, there are procedures.
If we have an operating license and all the authorizations that go around it, it is because our site complies with all safety and environmental requirements ”.
Opinions divided among residents of Valfrance
“These silos which contain ammonium nitrate in their fertilizers, it's dangerous if it breaks out!
I know this because I used to work in fertilizers at Portant in Dammarie, at the site of Aboisif today.
The important thing is maintenance, ”comments Jean-Claude, from Melun, who launched his fishing rod on the banks of the Seine just in front of the silos in Valfrance.
On the side of residents living behind the silos, behind the road to Chartrettes, little concern.
“I didn't know they stored ammonium nitrate in their fertilizers.
If the risk is once in a billion, that's fine.
They have to do what is necessary, ”comments Saïd, installed since 2007.
“What worries me above all is the dust they send us.
It fits in my apartment, ”adds Claudine, here since 1985. Sandrine is a philosopher.
“We bought our house in 2010. We were told there was a risk of explosion.
We live with it.
It doesn't bother me more than that.
"
For his part, Henri de Meyrignac (DVG), the mayor of Vaux-le-Pénil, considers himself “without worries”.
“The documents provided are reassuring.
We are not in the case of an operation like in Beirut where the product is kept for years, ”he says.