This Monday, October 27, two associations presented an appeal to the administrative court of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) to ask the judge to “urge the State” to better detect water contamination with CVM, a gas classified as “a certain carcinogen,” their lawyer learned to AFP.
“This court order is a first in France on the CVM issue and aims to force the State to react, which has not responded to us for months,” Me Gabrièle Gien, a lawyer specializing in environmental law, told AFP.
Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is a gas present in PVC pipes for drinking water installed in the 1970s, classified as a “definitive” carcinogen since 1987. It especially causes liver cancer, according to the Ministry of Health.
It would be present in between 15% and 30% of the French network, according to researcher Gaspard Lemaire, who mentioned to AFP 275,000 kilometers of potentially contaminated pipes, specifying that “less than a quarter of the contamination identified would be made public.”
Act at the national level
The action joins others initiated by several residents of different municipalities in France, who are facing pollution in the CVM and “the lack of reaction from the State,” insists Me Gien.
Its objective is to achieve “compliance with the necessary standards”, in particular in terms of identification of contaminated pipe sections, control, but also information of the affected populations.
According to Me Gabrièle Gien, “mistakes have been made and it is also about recognizing certain responsibilities.”
“So far, we have tried to dialogue with all interested parties, such as water unions or regional health agencies (ARS),” said Hervé Conraux, a member of the Sarthe Citizen Committee, which presented the appeal together with the departmental section of France Nature Environnement.
In the absence of sufficient measures, “the time has come to act at a national level, to achieve compliance with the rules that are not respected and to obtain reactions,” he added.
Source: BFM TV
