In Seine-et-Marne, Nonville in the fight against new oil drilling

At the wheel of his car, Jean-Claude Belliot, the mayor of Nonville, observes a truck leaving the oil platform, located right next to an equestrian center: “No one can pass the truck on the road, the vehicle in front must always back up… And if there was a leak from the truck – it already happened in 2013 – a few meters further on is the river du Lunain” he describes.

Concerns which persist after several incidents (in 2013 then 2022) linked to the platform. Last April, a report from the Ile de France Regional Environmental Authority Mission mentioned in particular the presence of crude paraffins extracted from petroleum in Lunain, which further reassured the mayor of Nonville in his positions: “We are classified as Natura 2000, and the first house is located 140 meters from the platform, not 250 as mentioned in the initial work authorization document.”

At City Hall, the mayor regularly discusses the oil platform with residents. The prefectural decree of last January puts a little more strain on those administered, says Didier Lorillon, deputy mayor of Nonville: “We are asking questions about the government’s interest in giving this type of authorization to the company [Bridge Energies]. We want the January decree to be canceled. I think that from the start of this project, the impact study was not done correctly.” Jean-Pierre has lived in Nonville for years and is even more concerned about the risks of oil exploitation for the town, since October 2022, where an incident on the platform occurred on the water injection pipe. of deposit. “When we know that for almost 7 hours hundreds of cubic meters of polluted water wandered around the site, with odors, and that at no time at the administration level did anyone wonder what 'we breathed and if there was pollution, it is incomprehensible according to the incidence report, nothing infiltrated. he says.

The risk of hydrocarbon pollution of the water tables crossed by the new two coveted wells concerns 180,000 people. Dan Lert, the President of Eau de Paris, is calling for the cancellation of the new drilling project in Nonville: “We must protect water resources rather than oil. (…) Can we take such a high risk for such a paltry oil production equivalent to that of a gas station in Paris?” Eau de Paris also specifies that the recommendations of the IPCC and experts from the International Energy Agency must be respected: “No more oil drilling is required to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement.”

The Nonville issue is also being closely followed by Friends of the Earth. Anna Lena Rebaud once again denounces the “hulot” law, passed in 2017, and presented at the time as the end of research and exploitation of fossil fuels: “We can no longer grant fossil fuel research permits. On the other hand, we can extend existing exploration permits, and we can authorize the exploitation of new drilling. This law is not sufficient.” she analyzes.

On the side of France Nature Environnement, lawyer Maxime Colin shares this point of view : “The exploitation is justified by the desire to ensure the post-exploitation of old wells, with a new carbon sequestration technique. It makes it possible to exploit residual oil stuck in the aquifers. We have the impression ultimately that the project makes it possible to increase production capacity, allowing money rents and the exploitation of oil in the short term.” he emphasizes.

For its part, the Bridge Energie company declares that 3 direct jobs depend on the platform in Nonville. It also ensures that it works completely legally with strict supervision, while the order has not been suspended by the authorities.