The incident occurred after a breakdown within the Yara France company, in Montoir-de-Bretagne, in Loire-Atlantique. The prefecture wants to be reassuring about the environmental consequences.
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It is a site classified as Seveso high threshold, which presents a high risk of industrial accident. A nitrogen fertilizer factory of the company Yara France was affected by an electrical outage on Friday March 29 in Montoir-de-Bretagne, near Saint-Nazaire, announced the Loire-Atlantique prefecture. “This incident led the operator to discharge industrial water laden with nitrogen into the Loire”according to authorities.
“The flows estimated at this stage by the operator do not give reason to fear any environmental consequences given the river flows”reports the prefecture, which however requested “water withdrawals from the Loire and Yara discharges”. The site “was stationary before this incident” And “fertilizer stocks are currently very low”, according to state services.
Yara, a Norwegian fertilizer manufacturer, has been singled out several times for sulfuric acid leaks at its Montoir-de-Bretagne site. Rather than comply with standards, the multinational preferred to close its factory and set up on this site a storage platform for fertilizers imported from around the world, reports France Bleu Loire Océan. The first layoffs are expected in September.
