A mudslide from an old mine during the October floods caused heavy metal pollution in Savas, in Ardèche. The municipality, in consultation with the prefecture, has implemented several bans.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “Today’s essentials: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
In Eteize, in the town of Savas, Justine Lantheaume does not hide her concern. “I'm afraid for my children, we don't even dare to let them play outside anymore, we don't know what they risk.” explains this mother, who has just learned that the piles of stones which devastated her garden two months earlier during the Cévennes episode of October, are loaded with heavy metals. “The flood drained all the earth that came from the mines, that's what we had to remove.” she adds, pointing to the damage to her garden.
In this Ardèche commune, an old abandoned lead mine is located just a few meters above the village. A mudslide caused by heavy rains last October in the region carried tons of rubble from the latter to the heart of the hamlet, polluting everything in its path. A predictable disaster for some residents, who do not hide their anger. “That was bound to happen anyway. For 20 years, various town halls have never carried out any maintenance. They channeled the nozzles but that's not enough, we can stop the fire, but we can't stop the water.” explains Jean-Marie Lantheaume, resident of Eteize.
In Justine Lantheaume's garden, piles of stones fell during the Cévenol episode in October.
•
© FTV
The pollution caused by the mudslide has spread to the point of contaminating the villagers' vegetable gardens. “There you go, all this is a production that will go into the dumpster since they are no longer consumable. We have had the test results and the rates are very high” regrets Michael Jarre, a resident, while digging his vegetable garden which has become a vegetable cemetery.
Here, the land as well as the water were tested last November. The results were revealed by the prefecture this Wednesday, December 25. The town hall, in consultation with the prefecture, immediately issued an enforceable decree. “The results of the analyzes on the “soil” aspect revealed high to very high levels of heavy metals, mainly lead, zinc, arsenic and cadmium. details the Prefecture in its decree. As one moves away from the mine, the levels of heavy metals are lower.
“The timetable is to be defined with the State services, we have planned to meet at the beginning of the year to carry out the first emergency work, and afterwards it will be necessary to carry out larger-scale studies to resolve or find alternatives regarding the presence of this mine” explains Daniel Guiot, deputy for town planning at Savas town hall. After the October floods, the town requested recognition as a natural disaster.
Until then, the town hall is working to schedule the cleaning of mining waste in residents' gardens.
