Fishermen in tears in front of the massacre in a portion of the Loing canal, in Seine-et-Marne. Many fish have been suffocated in the watercourse since October 26 and an investigation is underway, we learned from the authorities this Monday.
According to the secretary general of the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, Sébastien Lime, the pollution which affects the canal between Souppes-sur-Loing and Bagneaux-sur-Loing is linked to the presence of sugar. “The analyzes demonstrated the presence of sucrose in the water. But investigations have not yet been able to establish where it comes from,” he explained to AFP.
The services of the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) and the Inspection of Classified Facilities have reviewed “all nearby industrial installations”, indicated Sébastien Lime. “The various administrative inspections have not yet made it possible to identify the source,” he stressed.
The extent of the damage being assessed
According to the website of the Bureau for the Analysis of Industrial Risks and Pollution (BARPI), “pollution of a watercourse by a sugar factory” was referenced in November 2019 in Seine-et-Marne, further north, at Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne. At the time, this pollution came from “a sugar factory located upstream”, “following a crack in a dike in the skimming basin”. “An investigation is underway,” confirmed to AFP the Fontainebleau prosecutor’s office, which did not wish to communicate further.
As of October 26, operations had been carried out to remove dead fish from the canal bed and preserve the fish still alive. “Carp, perch, pike, eels, catfish, roach, catfish…. A very large quantity of fish died,” notes the president of the Seine-et-Marne federation for fishing and the protection of the aquatic environment, Philippe Gavelle, contacted by AFP.
Picked up by association volunteers, fishermen or local residents, they were placed in skips. But the federation prefers to wait before assessing the extent of this mortality because “a certain quantity of dead fish remains at the bottom”. The federation “will quickly file a complaint”, he said, to “prevent the recurrence of such events”.
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