The prefecture of Pas-de-Calais announced on Monday June 20 a collective screening campaign for lead poisoning for those under 18 living in the municipalities around the former Metaleurop foundry, affected by lead pollution of the soil.
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This campaign, offered to young people in Évin-Malmaison, Courcelles-lès-Lens, Noyelles-Godault, Leforest and Dourges, has been deployed since June 15, "
to respond to the concern recently expressed by part of the population
", specifies the prefecture in its press release.
Soil samples must also be organized to measure its lead contamination, particularly in schools and nurseries in the area, near the Évin-Malmaison stadium and on the very site of the former factory.
This decision follows a meeting at the end of May between the prefect and the mayors of the municipalities concerned, worried about the health consequences of the operation of this plant which for decades has released tons of heavy metals into the air, in particular lead and cadmium. .
5815 children may have been affected
When it closed in 2003, the area was considered the most polluted in France.
Five municipalities -24,000 people- have been affected since 1999 by a general interest project (PIG) which restricts land use.
At the end of April, the results of a survey by the investigative program “
Vert de rage
”, on France 5, on the pollution of soils with lead had been presented to the inhabitants.
Samples had revealed contamination well above the threshold from which the contaminated soil must normally be replaced.
Other analyzes on garden plants or in the hair of children had proved problematic.
The “
Vert de rage
” team estimates that 5815 children could have been affected by lead poisoning between 1962 and 2020, including a hundred for 20 years.
The prefecture points out that only one case of lead poisoning has been recorded for 10 years in the area.
Previously, eight collective screening campaigns had been carried out until 2012, attesting to a “
clear reduction in impregnation
”.
A dozen individual screenings have been carried out in recent weeks: all are below the regional blood lead average.
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A group of residents is trying to bring to justice, without success, a failure of the State in the control of Metaleurop's pollution.
The Hénin-Carvin urban community has filed a complaint to claim from the State “
the restoration of polluted land
” or, failing that, 574 million euros in damages.
