It was in an attempt to obtain this that Guillaume Soupart (MR) and Jean-Pierre Lépine (PS) questioned the Minister of Health and the Environment, Yves Coppieters (Les Engagés). “I live a few kilometers from the location and according to the information we have, this type of incident is not isolated, firefighters are regularly called to intervene on waste fires within this same factory”insists Jean-Pierre Lépine.
Concerned about a possible risk of atmospheric pollution around the site and the fate of the hundreds of cubic meters dumped on the site and directed to the plant's retention basin for appropriate treatment and analyses. “The elements which caught fire were mainly decontaminated end-of-life vehicles and light shrapnel. The firefighters used water from the canal which adjoins the site to control the fire“, announces the minister.
The city of Mons calls for the containment of Cometsambre's activities: “Such a measure should be the result of a risk assessment”
“No AFFF type extinguishing foam, therefore containing PFAS, was used. Extinguishing waste water was stored in a retention basin with a capacity of 1,200 cubic meters, a sufficient volume to store this water. They will be treated via the on-site water treatment process. Samples of this water were taken. The results of the analyzes will determine the next course of treatment. The waters of the canal have not been contaminated.”
The DPC Directorate in Mons is awaiting the report from the establishment which must identify the causes and impacts of this fire, and which must also establish proposals for action to avoid the occurrence of a fire event in the future. this guy. In any case, the findings will be transmitted to the competent authorities. “When the fire broke out, emergency measures were taken at the local level. The police warned local residents and asked them to remain confined given the smoke released by the fire, which was redirecting towards the village of Saint-Denis, north-east of Obourg At the same time, the Municipal Emergency Plan of the City of Mons was triggered and a BE-Alert message was sent to the inhabitants of Saint-Denis.
“Fight the problem at the source”
We learned that the firefighters were unable to check the toxicity of the smoke, not having the equipment to do so. “Given the limited impact of the smoke on the neighborhood, they considered that it was not necessary to request civil protection. The measure to protect residents, taken by the local authorities, consisted of asking residents to stay confined to their homes. At the end of the morning, the plume of smoke only extended 400 meters in a northeast direction from the site. The fire was completely contained at the beginning of the afternoon. smoke has therefore been very limited. There is no analysis planned of this impact, given the low importance of the incident.
Regarding the concrete actions to be implemented to avoid the recurrence of such fires within the factory, “They will be identified on the basis of the incident report which has yet to reach the DPC.” The minister specifies that “the principle supported is to combat the problem at the source. The complexity of the problem requires a range of measures involving the collaboration of the entire battery value chain.”
CometSambre qualified as “responsible” for PFAS pollution in Obourg: “our discharges are in compliance with our environmental permit”
A working group was therefore set up by the Management Infrastructure and Waste Policy Directorate of SPW ARNE in order to bring together the various stakeholders concerned – Denuo, Filpap, Fost Plus, Bebat, Recupel and COPIDEC – on the subject of high fire risks linked to the presence of lithium-ion batteries in other waste streams. Two working sessions took place, in October and November, within the administration in order to bring together all the recommendations, synthesize them and prioritize them.
The measures selected were analyzed and commented on in order to implement them in a concrete manner. “Currently, several short and medium term courses of action have been retained and are under discussion between the stakeholders. This involves strengthening the application of the new European regulation on batteries between the skills distributed in the different components of the State, regional and federal; to organize joint communications focused on the dangers posed by incorrect sorting of these batteries; to develop statistics on fires and incidents in order to better understand and better respond to these recurring problems.”
The minister further concludes that in the medium and long term, the participants underlined the importance of establishing a reinforced legal framework for the organization of the REP “Batteries and batteries”, the aim being, among other things, to make producers responsible of certain waste streams.
