A corrosive chemical agent leak occurred during the night of Wednesday 22 to Thursday 23 July within the Lavéra petrochemical complex in Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), announced the industrialist Kem One, leading to the formation of ‘a polluting acid layer of a few hectares in the Mediterranean.
This leak was detected at 1:50 a.m. “At the level of a ferric chloride solution storage tank in the production workshop of the Kem One site in Lavéra”, specifies the industrial group, European number two in PVC, in a press release sent to AFP on Thursday.
“An accidental spreading of this leak towards the storm sewer network occurred, resulting in a liquid discharge towards the Anse d’Auguette”, he adds. This highly corrosive chemical, used in particular for the treatment of wastewater, then transformed into a brown acid solution on contact with the sea, forming a toxic sheet of about six hectares in the Mediterranean, at the level of the cove of ‘Auguette.
Forty men from the Marseille Marine Fire Brigade (BMPM) and ten firefighters were sent to the site of the incident, which left no injuries, according to the Kem One group. An investigation is underway to clarify the circumstances of this leak, which has ceased to be fueled.
The Minister intends to have the damage repaired “by those responsible”
“The chartered support and assistance vessel (BSAA) Pioneer of the French Navy, specializing in the fight against pollution, was also deployed to contribute to the operations in progress ”, said the maritime prefecture of the Mediterranean in a press release.
In addition, a decree banning boating, sea fishing, scuba diving and swimming in the southern part of the Gulf of Fos, from Ponteau beach to Cape Couronne, has been issued by the prefecture.
“The services of the @Ecologie_Gouv ministry are on site to establish the circumstances of this leak and analyze its consequences on natural environments”, declared the Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, on Twitter, adding that “The damage that (would) be noted (would) be repaired by those responsible”.
The Lavéra petrochemical site is part of one of the largest industrial complexes in Europe, around the Etang de Berre, which generates pollution that regularly arouses the fears of the inhabitants of the surroundings. In October 2019, some of them had notably sued four industrialists, the chemist Kem One, ArcelorMittal, Esso and the Fos-sur-Mer oil depot, for “Neighborhood disturbance”.
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