Limit pollution as much as possible and put an end to it this fire which has lasted for 11 days. These are the objectives of the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture after a visit to the Saint-Chamas recycling center on Wednesday.
The fire continues to smolder in the giant rubbish heap and smoke escapes. On Monday, fine particles exceeded the alert threshold in the atmosphere. To put an end to this fire, we must gradually extract the garbage from the building in which they are, extinguish them and evacuate them. There would be nearly 30,000 m3 of waste stored while the site was only supposed to accommodate a maximum of 1,000.
The building could collapse
Problem: the structure threatens to collapse. It is therefore too dangerous for firefighters. The prefecture has therefore given notice to the company so that it begins, on Thursday, the destruction of the building at its expense.
An emergency retention basin for the water used to extinguish the fire was put in place to prevent contamination of groundwater, the Touloubre river and the Etang de Berre. The regional health agency and the pollution monitoring body Atmosud have set up “health monitoring systems,” said the prefecture in a press release.
Residents are called to avoiding physical activities in the open air so as not to inhale too many fine particles.