The inhabitants of Saint-Chamas have been living in smoke for ten days. Smoke loaded with fine particles. The fire at the town’s recycling center broke out on December 26. Waste continues to burn, but there is no longer a flame.
The wind hasn’t blown much in recent days. Results : the smoke has stagnated above the town. The alert threshold for air pollution with fine particles was also exceeded on Monday. This level is set at 80 µg / m3. The air monitoring agency Atmosud recorded 140 µg / m3.
Rules to avoid inhaling fine particles
“It could be a human and ecological catastrophe since everything starts in nature”, underlines the mayor of Saint-Chamas, Didier Khelfa. The chosen one is worried about the state of water tables and rivers with runoff of water used to control the fire. He is very upset against the operator of the site who was not in order and stored thirty times too much waste, according to him.
To protect its population, the mayor closed all play areas, prohibited outdoor sport and asked schools not to take children out to recess on Tuesday. These measures could be suspended on Wednesday if the mistral manages to sweep the smoke. Gusts of up to 95 km / h are expected on the Etang de Berre.