The Fibre Excellence pulp and paper mill in Tarascon in the Bouches-du-Rhône region of France is from this Tuesday at the centre of a trial for air pollution, according to an AFP report published in 20 Minutes.
The mill, which belongs to the Canadian company Paper Excellence, has been referred to the criminal court for "?émission of substance polluante?", including heavy metals and nitrogen oxide gases, the daily says. For several years, local residents and environmental associations have been denouncing the pollution generated by the plant.
In 2017, the Association for the Defence of the Rural Environment (Ader) filed a complaint with the public prosecutor for "?mise endangering the lives of others, air pollution, surface water pollution and souterraines?".
After a preliminary investigation that lasted three years, the local Public Prosecutor's Office decided to refer the company to the Tarascon Judicial Court for criminal proceedings for several breaches of the environmental code.
The plant is prosecuted for having, between 2016 and 2018, emitted air pollution in violation of a formal notice from the prefecture, operated a classified installation that did not comply with a formal notice from the prefecture, operated pressure equipment despite a control that concluded that it did not comply, operated a classified installation without complying with general rules and technical prescriptions.
Built in 1951, the mill now employs 300 people and produces 270?000 tonnes of pulp per year. It is classified SEVESO II Low Level (among the 50 most polluting sites in France).
