Par Writing Seine-Saint-Denis
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The Administrative Court of Appeal of Paris confirmed the obligation that had been made in 2019 to the company Wipelec, whose industrial site was located between rue des Oseraies and rue des Ormes in Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis) to clean up the site at his expense.
“Presence of polluting substances in the soil and in the air”
As a reminder, this French group specializing in the chemical cutting and surface treatment of metals intended for defense equipment – which works in particular for Thales – took over in 2003 the site previously occupied by the Usine Moderne des Marais (UMM) and CERES Technology.
In 2006, the company indicated to the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis that it wanted to “definitively cease its activity in March 2006”: on this occasion, studies carried out had revealed “the presence of polluting substances in the soil and in the air of houses bordering the site”, recalls the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal in a judgment dated February 2, 2023.
Residents, who had notably formed themselves into associations, had then taken legal action in 2016 to “endangering the lives of others”.
Solvent used for degreasing metals
In November 2019, the prefect had therefore instructed the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) to establish “a provisional plan” as well as a “methodology” to measure the “quality of indoor air” in homes bordering the industrial site for four years. ADEME also had to put in place “a device” aimed at reducing “the transfer of pollutants via wastewater pipes” in order to “cut the transfer routes to homes”.
These measures had then been charged to the “natural and legal persons responsible for the site formerly operated by (…) Wipelec”… but the company had refused to bear the costs of cleaning up the site.
Nevertheless “the obligation to restore the site” continues to weigh on “the last operator of the installation”, even if an “assignment” has taken place, recall the Parisian judges in their judgment dated February 2, 2023. In this case, “the Wipelec company must be ( …) regarded as possessing the status of last operator of the site in question”, they confirm.
“Carcinogenic”
Studies carried out from 2003 have also revealed the presence in soils, soil gases and groundwater of trichlorethylene, a chlorinated solvent used mainly for “metal degreasing”.
Studies carried out on neighboring plots have also revealed the presence of this solvent – classified as “carcinogen” by the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) – at “concentrations exceeding the rapid action value or the long-term benchmark value for ambient air quality “.
A transfer of trichlo by sewer, according to Wipelec
ADEME for its part had concluded, in reports from 2015, 2016 and 2017, that “transfers of these substances from the industrial site itself, by diffusion in the soil and soil gases, in the immediate vicinity of the ‘site footprint’ via groundwater and ‘possibly’ via air from underground networks.
However, “Wipelec does not establish, or even allege, that these substances could come from a source other than the industrial activity carried out on the site it operates”, notes the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal in its stop. ” THE public health risks and the protection of the environment (…) can only be regarded as being directly related to the activity of the old installation”, she deduces from this.
Wipelec, for its part, argued that “the transfer of trichlorethylene via the air from the buried networks could only have occurred due to a lack of normal maintenance” of the pipes by the community of municipalities. However, “the inspection of the pipes (…) did not reveal any leaks or cracks and reported their good general condition”, sweep the magistrates.
Formal notices remained without effect
Finally, the latter recall that the prefect had, in 2012, ordered the company to carry out “emergency measures” to cut off the transfer routes and to continue “ambient air measurements among local residents” and “to identification of transfer pathways”. But Wipelec did “not (…) defer to the successive formal notices”.
The administration could therefore indeed “proceed ex officio, in place of Wipelec and at its expense, for the execution of the measures (…) prescribed”, and this, “without it being necessary to demonstrate the existence of an emergency situation”.
As a reminder, the site was bought by a real estate developer who plans to build 99 homes there, which has generated a lively controversy. The mayor (various left) of Romainville François Dechy, for his part, made “a report” to the public prosecutor, he said on January 11, 2021 in a press release.
CB (PressPepper)
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