Question 10865 — dangerous products

Summary

Mr. Loïc Prud'homme alerts the Minister of Solidarity and Health on the protection of populations around the Lacq petrochemical basin. The revelations of July 8, 2018 on discharges from the Sanofi factory in Mourenx are alarming in this regard. The factory that manufactures Dépakine releases into the air up to 190,000 times the thresholds authorized by the prefectural decree for bromopropane, a carcinogenic substance capable of altering fertility. The environmental protection associations which sit on the Lacq monitoring committee are concerned that these excessive discharges could take place since 2012, the date of the implementation of a new manufacturing process on the site. These revelations come at a time when populations living around the basin have already been showing worrying symptoms for several years: skin rashes, discomfort, vomiting, awakenings. nighttime are all alarming signals shared by local residents since the reconversion of the site into a petrochemical basin. The last epidemiological study on population health dates from 2002, its worrying conclusions on the excess early mortality observed within a radius of 20 km around the basin nonetheless remain unfinished and incomplete. Continuation of the study was necessary to determine a link between the symptoms of residents, excess early mortality and air emissions from the industrial basin. But the ARS did not consider it useful to continue the study despite the alarming figures. 16 years later things have not progressed, following the discovery of excessive toxic discharges in February 2018, the only study on the health risks incurred was delivered by the company Sanofi itself and concluded, unsurprisingly, that the discharges from its factory are not dangerous for the health of local residents. How then can the Ministry of Health and the ARS claim to ensure the protection of populations if the absence of dangers involved is not formally demonstrated by an independent epidemiological study? The consequences of excessive releases of this toxic substance for the health of the population must be known as quickly as possible while the plant has temporarily shut down stopping its production for 3 months. The right to health is in fact enshrined in the preamble to the 1946 constitution; it is the duty of the State to guarantee it throughout the territory whatever the financial issues. Likewise, article L. 125-2 of the environmental code stipulates that “citizens have a right to information on the major risks to which they are subject in certain areas of the territory and on the measures of safeguard that concerns them. This right applies to technological risks and foreseeable natural risks. This essential tool is presented in the specific intervention plan (PPI) for the Lacq basin, which details the operational system aimed at protecting the population from a major technological accident. The PPI in force for the Lacq basin includes 43 municipalities with nearly 40,000 inhabitants. However, in the Lacq basin, the right to the information is apparently optional. Following the revelations of Sanofi's practices, neither the site's works council, nor local residents and environmental protection associations were aware of the information. In an internal Sanofi memo, we learn that the factory was aware of the excessive discharges in February and only informed Dreal 4 months later. Likewise for the epidemiological study carried out in 2002 by ISPED discovered, by chance, by the associations in March 2016. How can we guarantee the protection of the health of local residents and the smooth running of the PPI in the event of a disaster if citizens do not have access to the information on the industrial site which concerns them in the first place? Today, the excessive release of substances, the lack of transparency, the absence of serious epidemiological studies pose the greatest risk to exposed populations, the Ministry of Health and the ARS are now no longer able to guarantee the protection of populations around the basin. This is why he asks what study will be carried out urgently after the discovery of the excesses to know the consequences of the discharges on the health of the population and what protection and shelter measures for local residents are planned as soon as possible.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

No documents linked.

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.