ArcelorMittal acknowledges in a press release released on Monday March 13 that its factory in the south of France, near the large metropolis of Marseilles, experienced “ localized difficulties but that the annual average of its atmospheric emissions complies with the regulations. Ariane Lavrilleux, our correspondent in Marseille, investigated with the investigative media Disclose which has just revealed internal documents from the industrialist.
With our correspondent in Marseille, Ariane Lavrilleux
According to a confidential internal report released by the investigative media Disclose and the local media Marsactu, the discharges of fine particles from the ArcelorMittal plant in Fos-sur-Mer (south of France) would have exceeded the limits for 240 days, i.e. two thirds of the year 2022. The part of the he most polluting plant was already on the state radar. After several reminders to the law, the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture sentenced the steel company two years ago to a fine of 15,000 euros for its excessive emissions. The manufacturer now claims to make efforts and have reduced its pollution for ten years. But the health consequences worry local residents as well as the CFDT union, defended by lawyer Julie Andreu, from the TTLA firm, which filed two complaints in 2018. The first victims are the employees, who have developed pathologies which have been recognized as being of professional origin. Unfortunately, the pollution did not stop at the gates of the factory, and it was then the people living near these factories who realized that they were developing more pathologies than elsewhere, cancers, diabetes and others. “explains the lawyer.
Two legal proceedings have been ongoing for four years. ArcelorMittal, the European leader in steel, is targeted both for endangering the lives of others and for abnormal disturbance of the neighborhood. A hearing will be held on May 4.