The painting is hard to see:Thousands of dead fish float on the surface of Lake Barbençon.
Bernard Henoumont lives not far away. He was left speechless when he discovered this scene of desolation on Thursday morning. “I was walking my dog when I noticed this. There were several thousand fish. Big ones, small ones, even pike, carp…” According to him, a part has already had to be cleaned. “JI would say that there is only a fifth left now… But it’s an ecological disaster! And the smell is really foul…”
The guinguette installed just next door has decided to condemn its terrace. “It was no longer possible. The smell was getting worse day by day. We saw dead fish on the surface of the water., explains Morgane Grégoire, the waitress. “At the beginning, we explained the situation to the customers, we invited them to come in. Today, we haven’t even opened the terrace. This is no longer possible”.
Is this the consequence of the heat wave and the lack of oxygen in the water? Or a bacterium that would have contaminated the lake? The Nature and Forests Division descended on the spot. Analyzes are underway to determine the origin of these deaths, specifies the mayor of Beaumont, Bruno Lambert (ICI-Lesengage.es). Anyway, the priority of the place was summoned to clean everything before tomorrow. “This lake is privately owned. Technically, (dead fish) are treated as waste. It needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible. For this evening, or tomorrow at the latest, otherwise we will take measures”.
In the village of Barbençon, ranked among the most beautiful in Wallonia, we hope for a return to normal in the coming days.