What should be done with the Mirail incinerator in Toulouse? Last week, the report by the NGO Zero Waste Toulouse revealed that it was “the most polluting in France”, in particular for its nitrogen oxide emissions. This site is emblematic of the south of Toulouse. Located very close to the A64 motorway, the industrial zone of the Chapitre and especially the districts of Mirail and Saint-Simon (where a new college has just opened), the incinerator burns 285,000 tons of garbage per year.
Waste from the metropolis of Toulouse, but also from Muretain, and even from the Hautes-Pyrénées. It also makes it possible to heat part of the Mirail buildings, with a heating network. But he is agingalthough it was built in 1968. And above all, over time, the city has gained ground around it, with in particular many new residences in Saint-Simon.
We already had AZF…
The DECOSET (the joint waste union) is launching a public consultation on the future of the site: should it be renovated? move it? or a status quo? This consultation begins this Tuesday, September 20, with certainly opinions that will be submitted by the nearest inhabitants.
500 meters from the chimney, the inhabitants wonder
Example on the chemin du Renard, 500 meters from the large white and red chimney. In the small houses of the district, the oldest inhabitants have their opinion, in particular Serge: “we had AZF, which was not far away. There, we have the incinerator, which is even closer. If we have a problem with him, I don’t know how it will happen! Of course that worries me. There is the risk of explosion, and the risk of pollution“.
Regulate what burns
From the smell, there is not much, say the locals. But smoke, yes, very oftenexplains Samantha, Serge’s neighbor: “If we can’t move this incinerator (which would still be very good for the inhabitants around), it would be good to modernize it, perhaps to have a few more filters on the clouds that come out. .. And to regulate what we burn there! That would be good“.
“The population is not exposed”, according to the mayor of Toulouse
But for the mayor of Toulouse, there is no problem. Jean-Luc Moudenc clarified his thinking last week during his press conference, after discovering the report of the NGO Zero Waste: “it’s an incinerator that actually pollutes a lot less than some people say. There is a prefectural decree which governs emissions, which limits them. And we are below all thresholds. The population living around is not at all exposed“.
But for the inhabitants of Chemin du Renard, there is clearly a wolf… especially since even being very close to the incinerator, they say they are misinformed. They therefore intend to be heard during this public consultation.