The very name of the project is for its detractors the absolute symbol of “greenwashing”, namely the fact of passing off as virtuous and ecological an action which is not. The project in question is Green Dock, this giant 90,000 m2 warehouse whose construction is scheduled on road number 6 of the port of Gennevilliers. A behemoth 600 meters long and 25 meters high that its detractors compare to two Stades de France placed side by side on the banks of the Seine and overlooking L’Île-Saint-Denis and Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint -Denis).
A project, which must still be submitted to a public inquiry and which now mobilizes well beyond the Ile-de-France departments concerned. This Saturday, a large demonstration, which brought together a thousand people, left the town hall of Gennevilliers to reach L’Île-Saint-Denis. “We go from a town hall which supports the project to one which does not want it”, summarized the groups present.
In the procession, elected officials from Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-d’Oise, but none from Hauts-de-Seine, therefore, as well as local residents’ associations and national environmental defense collectives, starting by Earth Uprisings (SLT) and Ecological Revolution for the Living (REV).
“Green Dock is just the world of the big capitalist move which reinforces road traffic”
“The packages are for Paris, the troubles are for Seine-Saint-Denis,” laments Léna Lazare, spokesperson for the Uprisings, who organized their first action in an urban environment there. “This project is a lie because Green Dock is 1,200 trucks per day, it is the symbol of a deadly industry and it is the air of the inhabitants of Seine-Saint-Denis which will be even more polluted,” she insists. “When we build a bomb, we don’t care if it’s made from recycled materials,” says Azelma Sigaux, spokesperson for REV.
For his part, Éric Coquerel, the LFI deputy for Épinay and L’Île-Saint-Denis, called on the mayor (PCF) of Gennevilliers to ask him to refuse the building permit for Haropa Port which is carrying the project. “This project is of no interest because it does not promote river transport since no barge will have direct access to the warehouses,” assures the parliamentarian. Green Dock is just the world of the big capitalist move which reinforces road traffic. »
“Éric Coquerel is supposed to know the law,” responds Patrice Leclerc, who did not participate in the speeches in front of the town hall. Ironically, the town of Gennevilliers organized “the Ecology Spring” this Saturday at the Parc des Sévines. “A building permit cannot be refused if it does not respect the rules,” adds the councilor. This is the subject of the current instruction. If I refuse without this instruction and without valid reason, an appeal will cancel my cancellation and cause the city to pay damages. »
One person injured in the clashes
If the national environmental defense associations largely mobilized their troops for this demonstration, some of whom discovered the project thanks to the leaflets distributed on site, the residents directly concerned were also present. Like Antoine Gaudin, president of the Protection Berges de Seine association, one of the first to warn of the consequences of such a project, particularly in the Natura 2000 zone at the tip of Saint-Denis island where cormorants nest and kingfishers.
“This mobilization is a turning point because we carried out this action for three years, with relatively little hope given the scale of this project at 150 million euros,” recalls Antoine Gaudin. Today, we have the feeling that Green Dock is considered a national public issue and no longer just a local one. It asks the question of what development model we want in a context of climate crisis. »
If the start of the demonstration took place in a good-natured atmosphere, the situation suddenly degenerated at the Parc des Chanteraines, on Boulevard Charles-de-Gaulle, after a small group of demonstrators broke away from the procession to cross the departmental park and try to head no longer towards L’Île-Saint-Denis but towards the port of Gennevilliers.
With 58 heavy-handed arrests and as many police custody as a result. As well as a member of the “Medic” team (responsible for rescue during demonstrations) injured and transported to hospital, according to the organizers. No damage was noted.
