Opponents cry ecocide.
Two complaints from Alsace Nature about toxic waste buried in the former Stocamine potash mine in Wittelsheim (Haut-Rhin) were dismissed, we learned on Wednesday from the association's lawyer. of environmental protection and the Strasbourg public prosecutor's office.
The Rhine water table, which crosses Alsace, is however the largest reserve of drinking water in Western Europe.
It supplies eight million people with drinking water throughout the Rhine basin, including our Swiss and German neighbors, RFI points out.
The first complaint, filed in July 2021 against Zind, confirming information from Rue89 Strasbourg.
The second complaint was filed last September against the site manager, the company Mines de Potasse d'Alsace (MDPA), in particular for "forgery" and "fraud".
The Strasbourg public prosecutor's office specified that it had filed this complaint for insufficiently characterized offense on December 22, 2023, following an investigation also carried out by the OCLAESP.
The association will appeal
Alsace Nature's lawyer announced that the association will appeal these two decisions to the Colmar public prosecutor.
Some 42,000 tonnes of toxic waste (cyanide, arsenic, mercury, etc.) were stored in the former Wittelsheim potash mine from 1997 as part of a 30-year temporary authorization.
The waste, supposed to be non-flammable, nevertheless caused a fire at the bottom of the mine in 2002. Since then, no additional waste has been stored, but the public authorities have procrastinated for more than 20 years on the fate of those which had already been accumulated.
The State finally decided in favor of definitive containment of the remaining waste, a decision which resulted in the issuance of a prefectural decree in September 2023. This decree authorized the pouring of concrete in the old mine to contain waste.
Start of work suspended
Contacted by Alsace Nature, the summary judge of the Strasbourg administrative court decided on November 7, 2023 to suspend the start of this work, pending a decision on the merits.
The latter are strongly contested by elected officials and the local population who fear eventual pollution of Alsace's water table.
The LFI deputy for Bas-Rhin, Emmanuel Fernandes spoke on November 14 in the hemicycle, judging that it would be “a real premeditated ecocide”.
“The permanent burial of toxic waste at #StocaMine would be a real premeditated ecocide,” warns @EmmanFernandes.
“The only reasonable solution is to destock StocaMine.”
#DirectAN #QAG pic.twitter.com/9mmbn0Rt3H
— LCP (@LCP) November 14, 2023
The Ministry of Ecological Transition has filed an appeal against the decision of the emergency judge.
A hearing was held on January 29 at the Council of State and a decision is expected soon.