2023-05-20 09:35:42
Eleven years after its closure in 2012, the centenary Focast foundry in Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (Aisne) has left a heavy legacy. A significant pollution with hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents had been discovered in 2013. At the time, a rental house had been evacuated because of a well in the basement from which water fumes, very charged with trichloroethylene, were escaping. It had been recapped.
And today, pollution is still present on the 3 ha site. The worst thing is that it migrated into the plots of local residents through groundwater, soil and then the air, as evidenced by the measurements carried out by the public establishment in those who accepted it. local land in the Oise and Aisne territories (EPFLO), now the owner. Because, as part of the government plan on wasteland launched after the pandemic, an exhibition center should be erected in place of GrandSoissons Agglomeration.
” It’s worrying “
Michèle and Claude Cwikla, a retired couple, learned that the water in their well was contaminated and that the level of benzene in the house was higher than normal: “We planted fruit trees and vines. We should no longer eat it because the risk of transferring pollution via the roots is not excluded. It’s worrying, ”they confide in shock.
“It is not Focast who is responsible for the benzene, which can be present because of household products, paint, asserts Romain Chuette, responsible for the project management of the establishment. There must be sufficient ventilation. We have identified two main sources of pollution on the site. Products will be injected to break down the pollutants and render them harmless. »
Additional measurements will be carried out in the coming days. A public meeting will be organized in June, just before the start of the clean-up project, planned over four years. The bill promises to be heavy: 2.2 million euros will be borne by the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe) and 1.8 million by EPFLO. At this stage, EPFLO indicates that it does not have to intervene with local residents.
#Soissons #legacy #pollutants #groundwater