A decontamination project in La Rochelle suspended after nuisances

"It has been decided to put the work on hold," announced the Charente-Maritime prefecture in a press release published Friday evening after a meeting between government departments, site managers, the Bordeaux University Hospital Poison Control and Toxicovigilance Center (CAPTV) and the management and parents of students at the schools.

These pointed to the appearance of symptoms among students from establishments located near the neighboring excavation site of polluted land from a former Gaz de France factory.

"The symptoms observed and reported are headaches, dizziness, ENT and eye irritations, nausea and abdominal pain. These symptoms are compatible with exposure to gases and dust from the construction site, but they are also non-specific signs that could be indicative of other pathologies," the prefecture indicates.

The first results of the analyses of the air quality around the site conclude that there is "an olfactory perception at concentrations much lower than the alert and accidental toxicity thresholds", she adds.

The strong smell of hydrocarbons led the management of a private secondary school to suspend classes for three days, while a primary school continued to welcome pupils.

Parents and local residents accused the prefecture and the town hall of "minimizing the health risks" and demanded "the immediate and definitive cessation of the work, with the covering of the excavated areas and the securing of polluting and toxic waste".

Contacted by AFP, the Environment Director of the company Speed ​​Rehab (owned by the companies Browfield and Vinci Immobilier), reported the implementation of "means of reducing nuisances", including "misting to reduce dust and molecules".