2023-11-07 17:16:28
The administrative court (TA) of Strasbourg suspended Tuesday “temporarily” the unlimited storage of 42,000 tonnes of hazardous waste on the StocaMine site, in Haut-Rhin, which the State had authorized, judging that there was a “serious doubt” on the legality of this decision.
“There is serious doubt about the legality of the decision to store waste for an unlimited period”, explains in a press release the court, which had been referred for interim relief by the environmental defense association Alsace Nature. Unlimited confinement “is likely to disregard Article 1 of the Environmental Charter, which provides that “everyone has the right to live in a balanced environment that respects health””argues the court.
It also relies on “the seventh paragraph” of the preamble to this Charter which states that, “in order to ensure sustainable development, choices intended to meet the needs of the present must not compromise the ability of future generations and other peoples to meet their own needs”.
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Confinement “unlimited”decided by the Haut-Rhin prefecture on September 28, “is likely to disregard article L. 211-1 of the environmental code” on the “balanced and sustainable management of water resources”adds the administrative judge, according to whom it “is not justified” that the waste stored in one of the blocks, number 15, “could not be destocked”.
Uncertainties since a fire in 2002
A fire occurred in 2002 in this block, putting an end to the addition of new waste. Since then, the future of StocaMine, originally intended to be a non-definitive storage facility, has been a source of disagreement and uncertainty. After much procrastination, the State decided in January 2021 in favor of permanent burial of the remaining waste, authorized at the end of September by the prefecture’s decree.
It gave authorization to bury 42,000 tonnes of toxic waste (cyanide, arsenic, mercury, etc.) 500 meters underground under concrete in the former potash mine of Wittelsheim, near Mulhouse. a temporary authorization issued in 1997 for thirty years, therefore until 2027.
Alsace Potash Mines, which manages the site and of which the State is the sole shareholder, was preparing to relaunch landfill work aimed at confining all of the waste, but the decision of the Strasbourg TA puts a damper on this. stop. The parties have fifteen days to contest the TA’s decision before the Council of State.
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