The town hall of Marseille launches a petition against the pollution of ocean liners. Written on the initiative of the mayor, Benoit Payan, the text posted on the town hall’s website has gathered more than 26,000 signatories so far. The impact of boats on air quality has long been agitating in Marseille. Some exasperated residents have been mobilizing for years for better consideration of the health risks associated with port activity.
With our correspondent in Marseille, Yoram Melloul
Installed in her garden, Marie Prost Coletta sees the boats passing by entering the northern part of the harbor of Marseille.
” When they are sailboats, we are happy, when they are boats from Marseille even more. When boats pass, you know you’re getting a puff of pollution in your lungs. »
With the Cap au Nord association, she is fighting for a health study to be carried out on the inhabitants of the north of the city. “ At the end of Marseille, where we are, you have the places where the big boats come to be repaired. They stay for up to three months. And the engines run 24 hours a day. So we have permanent pollution with these boats. »
And the pollution she measures with the naked eye, on her terrace regularly covered with black soot, but also via the ten sensors installed by the association in private homes, such as Guillaume Felizza who lives a few kilometers further south. ” Over the past three days, we have on average twice the air pollution tolerated by the WHO. Peaks over twelve hours which can represent four times more pollution. This is what we measure “, he regrets.
To improve the situation, Cap au Nord is asking for better electrification of the quays.
For its part, the town hall, through its petition, wants to put pressure on the government and international bodies to better regulate the circulation of boats in the Mediterranean. In particular, it calls for a ban on stopovers for the most polluting ships during pollution peaks.