UA French company accidentally dumped two tons of latex into the Meuse last Friday, reports The Ardennes.
The Ardennes Fishing Federation alerted the gendarmerie. After initial observations, firefighters concluded that the product could not be recovered.
The Ardennes prefecture has ruled out a potential danger to human health, but the liquid could be toxic to fish. According to the president of the Ardennes Fishing Federation, latex will prevent photosynthesis. “This will pose a problem in terms of gas exchanges between water and air, because air will no longer penetrate the water, because of the latex,” he explains to our colleagues at The Ardennes.
As a precautionary measure, the consumption of fish caught in the Meuse between Mouzon and Givet has been banned by the prefecture until November 24.
The Federation intends to file a complaint against the company responsible for this pollution.
Belgium was not informed
The French authorities did not warn their Belgian counterparts, reports RTBF. “It is obviously deplorable and we can only be outraged,” regrets Nicolas Yernaux, spokesperson for the Public Service of Wallonia (SPW). “We are still waiting for precise information on the exact nature of the product but we must be reassuring, we are not dealing with a particularly dangerous product. »
The SPW has recommended that fishermen not consume fish from the Meuse until further notice.
