2023-09-16 05:54:54
Recurring hydrocarbon releases from the Aluminum Sabart plant in Tarascon-sur-Ariège are raising growing concerns about safety, plant management, and the impact on the environment. A new incident occurred on September 15, 2023.
Hydrocarbon discharges were detected in the Vicdessos watercourse near the Aluminum Sabart factory in Tarascon-sur-Ariège on September 15, 2023, the Ariège prefecture alerted. This new incident raises serious concerns regarding the safety and management of the factory.
This recent pollution is not an isolated incident. In July 2023, a hydrocarbon leak had already occurred in this same factory. The factory’s unions had pointed out recurring dysfunctions and expressed their concerns about the maintenance of the foundry since its purchase by the Chinese group Jin Jiang in 2017.
The Foix public prosecutor’s office had decided to open a judicial investigation, led by the gendarmes of the Tarascon-sur-Ariège brigade and the French Biodiversity Office (OFB). This investigation concerns the discharge of harmful substances into waters.
The unions’ concerns are fueled by previous incidents, including the falling of a chimney from the factory’s furnace and several workplace accidents in 2022. Staff organizations denounce the lack of training and the reduction of qualified personnel within the factory, which they say compromises worker safety.
In addition, concerns have been raised about black smoke emissions, which occurred after a test of recycling aluminum from old planes, carried out without filters or proper safety measures. The Aluminum Sabart factory currently has between 15 and 20 employees, compared to more than sixty in 2017.
In any case, as a precautionary measure, the authorities placed the drinking water catchment points in the region under surveillance from September 15, while nautical and fishing activities were temporarily suspended between Tarascon -sur-Ariège and Foix.
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