In the Bassins à Flot district in Bordeaux, significant black smoke emanating from the forms of refit (or dry docks), worried some of the inhabitants. The situation started in January, and resumed on Monday morning. In addition to the smell, some residents complain of mild throat and eye irritation.
The association for the defense of the environment and the quality of life of the Bassins à Flot district deplores that this work was carried out “without elementary containment measures” and ensures that “the fumes and particles of these toxic materials have spread in the atmosphere and in the water of the basins, diffusing acrid odors throughout the district. »
Presence of tar
“This is the very last work within the forms of refit, which consists of dismantling a boat-carrier [énorme caisson en acier] very old and no longer up to standard, explains Renaud Picard, administrative and financial director of the port of Bordeaux. This work was supposed to be finished on Friday, it may have been a day or two late, but that’s the end of it. The cutout of the door generated fumes, due to the presence of tar. These fumes are very black but they are not toxic. I understand the concern of the inhabitants, we would have done well without this episode of cutting which should have been done years ago, but it is absolutely not a question of ship repair. »
Accuracy is important, because the port has to face the mistrust of some of the inhabitants, worried about the compatibility of a naval pole activity in a district which has seen more than 4,500 housing units built since the beginning of the years 2010. Even if the mayor of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic, assures that the activities “the most polluting will be located on the banks of the Garonne or in Bassens, not in the heart of the habitat island. »
“We also want the district to retain port activity”
But the association of the Bassins à Flot district says “no longer have confidence”. “The port does not take into account the inhabitants” laments its president Hélène Szalay. She takes as an example the Armi industrial building, located opposite the sea marine museum. “We didn’t want it, and we were promised in Juppé’s time that it would disappear from the landscape, that there would be a garden instead, recalls Hélène Szalay. Finally, the port decided to keep this building, simply conceding to reduce it by a third, and not by half as Pierre Hurmic maintains. Admittedly, there will be a green space of 6,000 m2 next door. But how can a leisure garden be compatible with the activities of this workshop, especially since there is also a fairing area on one side of the park? »
“It was chosen, retorts Renaud Picard, in consultation with the city and Bordeaux metropolis, to keep the building in this place, because it benefits from heavy infrastructure, in particular an overhead crane, which is difficult to move. It will house a company specializing in retrofitting (switching from heat engines to electric or hydrogen engines). And next to it, there will be a 6,000 m2 garden, open to the public. We listen to the inhabitants, but we also want the district to retain port activity. »
“You need a mechanic for all river activities”
Renaud Picard ensures that the return of a naval center to Bassins à flot, whose activity had been flourishing in the 19th and 20th centuries before dying out in the 1980s, is “necessary”, in particular “to bring the river to life. , what everyone claims today. » « You need a mechanic for all these river activities, but there are exceptional infrastructures at the wet docks, namely the two forms of refit, as well as the slipway (or boat lift) at Bacalan. But obviously, there will be no major boilermaking in the middle of the dwellings, the activities will be reduced to the interior fittings of the boats, to the exchange of engines for retrofitting or to dry runs for technical checks. »
The administrative and financial director of the port adds that “we are making three hectares available behind the submarine base so that the city can develop a second garden for the inhabitants”. “We have also just recovered the plot of H36, squatted for years, which will be used, among other things, to widen the rue des Etrangers. »
“Building a new district is never easy, continues Renaud Picard, especially when it is necessary to combine the interests of each which can be contradictory”. The residents’ association stresses that it “does not want to eliminate port activities”, but does not digest the “episode of pollution” it has just experienced. And that she hopes never to see again.