the letter from Dutch elected officials is neither an “alert” nor a “warning”, according to the Oise prefecture

On November 9, two vice-presidents of the provincial council of South Holland wrote a letter to the prefecture of Oise. They explain how PFAS produced by Chemours were released into the environment, “both in water and in the air.”

Neither an alert nor a warning: for the Oise prefecture, the letter from Dutch elected officials on the activities of the Chemours company is a simple “information sharing” And “an exchange of good practices”. In this letter, dated November 9, two vice-presidents of the province of South Holland attempt to contact the French authorities about the chemical giant Chemours, established in the Netherlands and in the French department. They attract the attention of the Oise prefecture: “Given that our two public authorities deal with the same company and are likely to face the same challenges, we hope to be able to learn from each other and benefit from a regular exchange of information.” The elected officials, who learned that Chemours wants to expand its Villers-Saint-Paul site, invite representatives of the Oise prefecture to visit them in The Hague.

A little later in this letter, they describe what happened at home, on the outskirts of the town of Dordrecht where nearly 100,000 people live: the arrival of Chemours, which was then called DuPont, in the 1960s and… pollution with PFAS, these chemical compounds with non-stick and waterproof properties. Extremely resistant in the environment, they are also nicknamed “eternal pollutants”.

A “light interpretation”, regrets an NGO

In Dordrecht, say Dutch elected officials, Chemours rejected one of these eternal pollutants until 2012: PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). Carcinogenic, it has been banned in the European Union since 2020. Then, Chemours used another substance, GenX (HPFO-DA), classified “extremely worrying” by the European Chemicals Agency. Pollution has been observed in the environment, in the air, in the water. Frederik Zevenbergen and Meindert Stolk note that the concentration of PFAS has increased in their region, so much so that “restrictions on the use of vegetable gardens and bathing waters” were taken. Since 2016, “we are working to reduce emissions of various perfluorinated and polyfluorinated compounds into air and water.” The authorizations given to Chemours have been modified and “partly thanks to this, environmentally harmful substances have been reduced by 80 to 99%”.

For the Oise prefecture, this letter is therefore neither an alert nor a warning. “This is a very light interpretation of this letter”estimates François Veillerette, whose NGO Générations Futures has filed a complaint against X for PFAS pollution in the Villers-Saint-Paul chemical platform sector. “There is clearly a desire to attract attention: it’s an alert, it seems quite obvious to me. And I found it very good that the Dutch elected officials took the initiative of contacting the prefecture of ‘Oise. This shows a great sense of responsibility: there is a desire to unite public powers across national borders to improve the situation, to see more clearly in order to act.”

An investigation opened against Chemours in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, another elected official, Lies Van Aelst, head of the socialist group of the Provincial Council of South Holland, does not beat around the bush: “Here, Chemours has polluted the entire delta. I understand, sincerely, that you want to create jobs [80 emplois doivent être créés avec l’extension de l’usine de Chemours à Villers-Saint-Paul]. In the short term, you may have work, but in the long term, the extent of the damage is unimaginable. We thought we should warn you. Say no to Chemours.”

In the Netherlands, caution towards the chemical giant, already condemned in the United States under the name DuPont, does not stop with this simple letter. 2,400 local residents filed complaints in November for environmental contamination. The lawyer who represents them, Bénédicte Ficq, believes that the group has “intentionally and illegally introduced substances into the ground, air, surface waters, which resulted in danger to public health and the lives of others.” A few months earlier, the Dutch channel BNNVARA shocked by explaining, “based on court documents”, that the chemist already knew the seriousness of the situation 30 years ago.

A “low concern” risk profile, according to Chemours

In France, the Oise prefecture specifies that it imposes on Chemours, via a prefectural decree of March 2023, “monitoring releases into the environment” and that one “environmental diagnosis” was prescribed. “The operator has commissioned a design office”, explains the prefecture, which adds that analyzes in private wells, eggs and vegetables around the chemical platform were decided in January. In 2022, Chemours estimated to have released 59 kilos of PFAS and 2.6 kilos in 2023 (there are thousands of different PFAS, between 30 and 48 have been tested by Chemours, including the dangerous PFOA).

“Chemours manages 58 sites around the world”, reacts the company in a press release. “Each site has different characteristics”. THE “new” Villers-Saint-Paul site should make it possible to manufacture “membranes used in the production of carbon-free hydrogen”. As for the substances produced, they have, according to Chemours, a risk profile “low concern”.

“What we wish for, reacts François Veillerette of Générations Futures, who conducted his own analyses, is that all data on PFAS releases by this company – and others, for that matter – be quickly made public.“