Almost two years later, new problem with the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges (Loire-Atlantique). In December 2022, a leak from this Seveso high-threshold site caused the spill of 700,000 liters of gasoline.
This time, a “crude oil leak” is polluting “an area of 500 m²” of the Loire, the department prefecture said on Sunday, which claims to contain it “in part”.
“The TotalEnergies refinery in Donges detected a crude oil leak yesterday evening (Saturday) at an elbow on a line 30 cm in diameter,” announced the prefecture in a press release published on Sunday. She says 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 500 m²² in the Loire”, a 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 crude oil flows”
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.
The management of the Donges refinery could not immediately be reached on Sunday morning.
