Le Figaro Lyon
To discover
Follow all the news of the city of Lyon
The State responsible but not guilty of the pollution within the Michel Servet school.
The administrative court of Lyon followed the conclusions of the public rapporteur at the hearing and rendered this Friday, February 24 a judgment dismissing Greenpeace and the parents of 17 pupils of this establishment located above the road tunnel of the Croix Rousse of their requests. compensation and reduction of automobile traffic.
A decision
“against the protection of vulnerable populations in the face of pollution”
, regret the latter, who are considering appealing, while the court underlined a lack of effectiveness of the plan for the protection of the atmosphere.
The administrative court of Lyon recalled the overruns in 2018 and 2019 of the annual nitrogen dioxide pollution thresholds in several outdoor courtyards of the school, which have since been closed to pupils, as well as certain classrooms.
He then considered
that "by refraining from drawing up a plan relating to air quality allowing the exceeding of the pollution limit values in the whole of the Lyon area, and more specifically in the sector of the Michel Servet school, be as short as possible, the State has committed a fault of a nature to engage its responsibility"
.
And for good reason, the new atmosphere protection plan was only adopted in November 2022, i.e. five years after the Council of State had deemed the previous one insufficient to limit peaks in nitrogen dioxide pollution. .
SEE
ALSO
- Grenoble, the air pollution index is displayed on a cable car pylon
Pollution not only due to the tunnel
However, the court considers that the prefect took the appropriate measures during pollution peaks to limit the extent and the effects on the population, even leaving the Croix Rousse tunnel open to traffic.
He also notes that
"the particularly high nitrogen dioxide pollution observed at the level of the exit of the Croix Rousse tunnel on the Rhône side, and more particularly of the north courtyard of the Michel Servet school, is the result of a plurality of factors and that automobile traffic is only responsible for 40% of them
.
The rest is attributable to the topography of the site - at the foot of the Croix Rousse hill -, to the circulation of the winds and to the heavy traffic congestion on the neighboring quays of the Rhône.
“The correlation between the pollution observed within the Michel Servet school and the car traffic in the Croix Rousse tunnel is not systematic”
, specifies the judgment.
As for the closure of the tunnel during the year 2012 for works, it certainly contributed to a temporary improvement in air quality, but did not allow nitrogen dioxide pollution to be lowered below the limit value annual.
The court further responds to the request for closure or limitation of traffic under the work that such a decision
"would imply a transfer of car traffic to other axes, and in particular to the Fourvière tunnel and the North ring road, which seems unthinkable due to the saturation of the Fourvière tunnel and safety requirements in terms of traffic in the tunnels of the northern ring road"
.
The responsibility of the Metropolis of Lyon, whose commitment to environmental matters was recognized by the court, as well as of the City, which closed the courtyard, then the classrooms and carried out an anti-fine particle cleaning, was dismissed by the court.
As for the harm, both health and moral, suffered by the children and their parents, the judgment considers that they have not been established.
The latter believe that
"the action of public policies remains insufficient"
in terms of pollution, while the State was condemned for this reason by the Council of State last October to pay a penalty payment of 10 million euros. .
SEE
ALSO
- Cruise ships: the mayor of Marseille wants to ban their entry into the port due to heavy pollution
