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, November 24.
“The TotalEnergies refinery in Donges detected a crude oil leak on Saturday, November 23 evening at an elbow on a line 30 cm in diameter,” announced the Loire-Atlantique prefecture in a press release published on Sunday. She said she mobilized “all state services (…) immediately”.
“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.
“No more oil flows into the Loire”
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 carried back, by the action of the wind, onto the banks,” she said, ensuring that the assessment of the environmental impact of this leak will continue. Contacted by AFP, the management of the Donges refinery could not be immediately reached on Sunday morning.
In December 2022, a leak from this refinery, classified Seveso high threshold, caused the flow of 700,000 liters of gasoline.
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With AFP
