The scents rising near the Town Hall could have been more pleasant during this holiday season. Municipal employees of the City of Paris were forced to inhale gasoline vapors for several weeks. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, fuel tanks overflowed last November under Place Saint-Gervais (IVe), between the Town Hall and the buildings dedicated to municipal police officers.
According to Paris City Hall, on November 20, a City service provider, who came to supply the gasoline distribution station in the Rue de Lobau parking lot, “accidentally spilled fuel.” The firefighters, “present the same morning, simply recommended good ventilation of the premises overlooking Place Saint-Gervais, the polluted space corresponding to a restricted and well-identified perimeter,” adds the City.
However, at the beginning of December, several members of town hall staff alerted to the smell of gasoline in the building located at 4 rue Lobau. After the incident, the Public Health Department (DSP) installed sensors to analyze air quality.
“These revealed, in certain spaces overlooking Place Saint-Gervais, the presence of pollution in the air, which would be linked to the contamination, from polluted land, of an underground gallery built between the buildings of the 2 and 4 Lobau”, specifies the Paris town hall. Gasoline, which contains benzene, is listed by the National Institute for Research and Safety (INRS) as a “dangerous product”, which “enters the body either by inhalation or by skin contact” and whose vapors ” act on the nervous system and cause serious disorders of the blood count.
To overcome this problem, an initial ventilation operation was organized. A second operation then consisted of evacuating large volumes of soil in order to sustainably treat the pollution on site. Areas located near the construction site have been closed off and employees asked to telework. The City also indicates that “temporary relocation solutions during the work period have been offered to them”.
At the end of the project, the Public Health Department will carry out additional air analyzes. “If these indicate the absence of pollutants, the reopening of the two wings concerned will be possible,” concludes the Paris town hall.
