A crude oil leak was reported at the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges, located in Loire-Atlantique, causing a flow into the Loire River overnight from Saturday to Sunday. According to the Loire-Atlantique prefecture, this leak stems from a “2 cm breach on a welding seam”. This failure generated “a trickle of flow in the Loire and a phenomenon of iridescence with a surface area of approximately 500 m² in the river”.
TotalEnergies, in a press release, specified that the flow was quickly brought under control, with a cessation at “1:40 a.m. in the night”. An enhanced containment system was deployed at 8:50 a.m. Sunday morning to contain the incident. The prefecture indicated that no crude oil has flowed into the Loire since “3:45 a.m.” on Sunday. Work to “sustainably seal the leak” was undertaken and a double containment system, including floating booms, was put in place to control the hydrocarbons.
However, unfavorable climatic conditions, notably wind and ebb tide, make it difficult to completely encircle the affected area. Analyzes of the banks showed “no trace of hydrocarbon”, and “no anomaly in the air” was noted, according to TotalEnergies, specifying that the quantity of oil spilled was “less than 15 m3”.
An environmental impact assessment is underway to assess the consequences of this incident. The authorities explain that “the iridescent waters should partly disperse naturally and return, through the action of the wind, to the banks”.
The Donges refinery, TotalEnergies' second largest in France with an annual processing capacity of 11 million tonnes of crude oil, is not its first incident. Last December, a leak caused the flow of 700,000 liters of gasoline, and in February, the refinery was shut down for inspections following leaks and corrosion problems.
France
