two new oil drilling operations in Seine-et-Marne worry Paris town hall

ENVIRONMENT – France is definitely finding it difficult to give up oil. Despite its objective of exiting fossil fuels, particularly oil, by 2040, the government continues to authorize new drilling in France. This is the case a few kilometers south of Paris, in the Lunain valley in Seine-et-Marne, where a site operated by the company Bridge Energies is located.

In early 2024, the state quietly gave the green light for the concessionaire to dig two new oil wells on its site, a newspaper investigation found Release this Sunday, May 5. However, the latter is located a few hundred meters from key catchment points for the supply of drinking water to 180,000 Ile-de-France residents, mainly Parisians but also residents of Seine-et-Marne.

This project “is a potential environmental disaster, at a time when water resources are increasingly threatened”denounced this Monday, May 6 in a press release the Paris town hall, headed by Anne Hidalgo.

At the same time, its operator Eau de Paris announced an application to the Melun administrative court to suspend the prefectural decree of January 30 authorizing the opening of work on the concession, considering that the extension of the existing drilling site compromise “the security of the drinking water supply to the city of Paris”but also ” the biodiversity “ And “the fight against climate change”.

“There is a risk of water and soil pollution”

In a video posted on his Twitter account this Monday, the president of Eau de Paris, Dan Lert, who is also the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of the ecological transition, called on the French to mobilize against the extension of this oil project. “It’s a potential disaster,” believes the elected official. “There is a risk of water and soil pollution by hydrocarbons. An incident could occur during exploitation or drilling »he warns, specifying that he has already noted two incidents on the site in the past.

For the president of Eau de Paris, the government “play with fire”. In the newspaper Libération he summarizes: “ This involves extracting and handling additional barrels of oil in an area that was classified three years ago. remote protection perimeter » with regard to the risks of pollution on the water! How can the government justify and take responsibility for this dangerous and aberrant choice in the face of the climate emergency? »

Comments followed by those of Greenpeace France, which castigates in a press release this Monday “ we cannot “at the same time” declare that France will be the first nation to abandon fossils and authorize the development of oil and gas activities on our territory “.

Bridge Energies awaits court decision

The company Bridge Energies already operates three wells, opened between 2012 and 2014, and holds a concession to exploit the current deposit until 2034. The State has authorized it to open two others, with a depth of 1,500 m, following a public inquiry.

In its opinion, the Environmental Authority makes a significant number of recommendations, including that “to analyze and prevent the risks of an accident or malicious act leading to hydrocarbon spills that could reach Lunain”river classified Natura 2000.

Bridge Energies “does not wish to comment until the administrative court has issued its first order” on the appeal filed urgently, its president Philippe Pont told AFP. According to the Paris town hall, like the oil producing company Bridge Energies, the decision should be known in the coming days.

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