Part of the factory’s equipment was ransacked by several hundred environmental activists on Saturday. An investigation has been opened.
The Lafarge La Malle factory located in Bouc-Bel-Air (Bouches-du-Rhône) was targeted by around 200 environmental activists late Saturday afternoon, BFM Marseille Provence learned confirming information from France Blue.
“Very significant damage” was observed “on installations, buildings and vehicles”, explained Lafarge in a press release this Sunday, describing the action as “unprecedented violence”.
“Chimneys always spit their venom”
The activists, for their part, explained their gesture in a communicated and denounced the “air pollution” generated by the factory.
“The ovens that have been targeted, long fueled by industrial waste and tires, are today the symbol of greenwashing. Air pollution is considerable and has been repeatedly denounced […] However, the chimneys still spit their venom,” they wrote.
François Petry, general manager of the cement manufacturer, on the contrary denied being at the head of “a state-of-the-art factory in the country in the field of carbon-free materials”.
“Beyond our factory, it is the progress approach of the entire industry that is weakened by these actions,” he said, according to the remarks reported in the press release from the cement manufacturer.
The group also indicated that it had made “substantial investments for its decarbonization and that of its production” in recent months.
An open investigation
The factory could be prevented from operating normally for several weeks because of the damage caused, indicated the mayor of Bouc-Bel-Air, Richard Mallié, to BFM Marseille Provence.
A gendarmerie brigade has been deployed to the plant site. The Aix-en-Provence prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. Lafarge has filed a complaint and “hopes for a quick identification of the perpetrators” of the action.