Le Figaro Bordeaux
There is water in the gas between the “barge village” of the Bassins à Flot district and the large maritime port of Bordeaux (GPMB).
Since May 2023, the occupants of these dozens of manned vessels, long established in this rapidly changing district, have been fighting against the doubling of their fees within five years, decided by the GPMB on the occasion of their moving from one basin to another.
But that's not all, the barge operators are now accusing the port of exposing them to pollution.
Three collectives, the village of barges, the inhabitants of the basins and the association of users of the basins afloat (Aubaf) denounce
“an environmental scandal”
, speaking out for residents who suffer
from “respiratory pathologies, asthma , allergies and even cases of cancer”
, requiring, according to them,
“immediate action”
.
Their main claim relates to
“toxic emissions from illegal fairing”,
which would be
“practiced by the GPMB”
, they explain in a press release.
Present in front of the town hall this Tuesday, January 30, the day of the municipal council, around ten residents of the village of barges wanted, with signs and megaphone, to challenge the elected officials and the mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, accusing the latter of
"supporting »
port actions.
While three legal summons were filed (on the increase in the fee, the fairing and the risks of possible pollution), the mayor of the city, a lawyer by profession, spoke on this subject at the end of the council , explaining that he
“would never intervene in ongoing legal proceedings”
because this
“interference”
could prove
“counterproductive”
.
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“It’s the reign of “fake news””
Anahita Le Bourdiec, from the village of barges, does not budge and wonders about the fact that an
“ecological town hall”
can
“support this type of project which has neither tail nor head”
.
According to her, the
“refit”
of ships carried out by the large seaport of Bordeaux would amount to
“putting a nuclear power plant right in the middle of homes”
.
For this resident,
“molecules are released into the environment completely illegally”
which would be
“extremely carcinogenic”
.
Criticizing the GPMB's future projects, in particular its stated ambitions of modernization and decarbonization, Anahita Le Bourdiec sees
"the reign of 'fake news'"
, and judges that
"the port is smoking [them] out"
.
Renaud Picard, deputy general director of the GPMB, is, however, a little taken aback by the list of complaints made at the port.
“I remind you that we are a public establishment of the State with a recognized naval activity”
, he specifies, the GPMB being an ICPE (installation classified for environmental protection).
In this regard,
“our installations are regularly checked by state services and the specifications are very strict
,” he adds.
Faced with possible pollution, Renaud Picard affirms that
“there is no risk for the population, because our installations take into account the evolution of the city and the inhabitants located around it”
.
On the refit and refit, Renaud Picard specifies that
“the strength of the port is that there are different sites for the different stages”
: at the floating basins, in Bacalan and in the town of Bassens.
The wet docks have two forms of refit, allowing ships to be left dry for maintenance.
“We take into account the nature of the work to do it in one site or another.”
As for the accusations of illegal careening, the port insists that
“there is no careening area at the floating basins”
.
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“We can talk about facts, not rumors”
Renaud Picard also affirms that there is no spill and that there would therefore be no pollution of the water in the basins.
“All water from boat treatment is reprocessed in special circuits”
, and the forms of refit of the floating basins also contain dedicated pumps.
“They talk about pollution but without saying exactly what it is, it all remains quite diffuse
,” laments the deputy director of the GPMB.
Renaud Picard believes that the
"all-out"
recriminations of the inhabitants of the barge village are
"still relatively serious"
, and that they are not based on any concrete proof.
“When we have so many undocumented and unfounded accusations, which still stir up a lot of fear, when talking about cancers, we do not throw that out into public opinion without having the beginnings of both arguments and facts.”
“Our door is always open, it remains so despite the insults and the lies
,” finally adds Renaud Picard.
“We can understand that there are certain fears and we are ready to explain our work processes, but we still need to have a space for dialogue
. ”
According to him,
“we must be able to speak on facts, not on rumors”
.
A court decision should be rendered on February 28 on the first summons, before the two others expected on March 4 and April 29.
Three deadlines which will perhaps allow the beginning of a resolution for this ongoing conflict between the port and the barges.