The appeal, filed by the Eau et Rivières de Bretagne association, requests “the taking of all useful measures” to limit nitrate pollution and “reparation for ecological and moral damage”, estimated at 3.2 million euros per association.
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It fights in particular against pollution with green algae. The Eau et Rivières de Bretagne (ERB) association has filed a double appeal against the State for “inaction in the face of water pollution by nitrates” before the administrative court of Rennes, it announced on Monday 10 October. Filed on October 1, the appeal requests “taking all necessary measures” to limit nitrate pollution and “compensation for ecological and moral damage”estimated at 3.2 million euros by the association.
Since 1971, tons of green algae have washed up on Brittany’s beaches every year. As they rot, they release hydrogen sulfide, a deadly gas when exposed to high concentrations. This proliferation of green algae is “more than 90% of agricultural origin” in Brittany, according to a report by the Court of Auditors in 2021. The use of nitrogen fertilizers has increased sharply there since the 1960s, and the region now has 140,000 jobs in the food industry.
In the soil, the nitrogen contained in these fertilizers is transformed into nitrates, the concentration of which in Breton rivers rose from less than 5 mg/litre in the 1960s to more than 50 mg/l on average in the 1990s. This development has earned France two convictions for violating European legislation, in 2012 and 2013. This rate currently stands at 31.7 mg/l on average in Brittany, well above the 10 mg/l which, according to scientists, to see the end of the tunnel.
With this appeal, the association wants “to touch the portfolio of the State”, declared the director of ERB Arnaud Clugery during a press briefing. The latter emphasized “the repeated deficiencies in the commitment of (the State) in the fight against nitrogen fertilization”.
In 2021, the Administrative Court of Rennes canceled the sixth Regional action plan against green algae, ordering the State to review its copy by adding “any useful additional nitrogen fertilization control measure” in agriculture.
The new plan, which must be presented this Friday to the Regional Council of Brittany, is only “the continuity” of the precedent, regrets Estelle Le Guen, responsible for the agriculture mission at the association.