A “crude oil leak” from the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges is polluting “an area of 500 m2” of the Loire, the Loire-Atlantique prefecture said on Sunday, which claims to contain it “in part”.
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“The TotalEnergies refinery in Donges detected a crude oil leak on Saturday evening at an elbow on a 30 cm diameter line,” the prefecture announced on Sunday.
A 2 cm gap on a weld
“The leak materialized as a 2 cm breach on a weld seam”, which created “a trickle of flow which led to an iridescence of a surface of approximately 500m2 in the Loire”, specified the prefecture.
“This area could be partly contained by a double containment system via floating booms despite climatic conditions which make it difficult to encircle this iridescent zone,” she reported.
Pollution expected on the banks
According to the prefecture, “since 3:45 a.m.” on Sunday, “no more crude oil flows into the Loire” and “interventions are underway to permanently plug the leak.”
“The iridescent waters should partly disperse naturally and be transferred, by the action of the wind, to the banks,” she said, ensuring that the assessment of the environmental impact of this leak will continue.
In December 2022, a leak from this refinery, classified Seveso high threshold, caused the flow of 700,000 liters of gasoline.
