In Maurienne, some 300 students from five establishments were confined for around two hours this Monday morning, in the municipalities of La Chambre, Saint-Martin-sur-la-Chambre, Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines and Saint-Avre. A preventive containment time to eliminate any risk for the students, after this pollution alert at the Arkema chemical plant in La Chambre, classified Seveso high threshold according to the prefecture of Savoy.
An overflow of rinsing water from ammonia products
The alert was given shortly before 9 a.m. Employees were in the process of cleaning tanks of chemical products and draining the cleaning water into the tank of a wagon when it has overflowed. According to François Girot, director of the Arkema site, a large part of the polluted water was collected and stored in a retention pit, but a strong smell of ammonia was released on the site.
Two Arkema employees were bothered by the smells and were transported to the emergency room of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Outside the factory, the air toxicity readings turned out to be negative according to the Savoie prefecture. The confinement of the students was therefore lifted around 10:30 a.m.