This is a file that has been dragging on for at least ten years. Because if the outline of the project to clean up the heavy metal deposits of the old industries on the southern coast of Marseille dates from 2012, the year of the creation of the Calanques national park, the risks for the health of children and adults are documented… from 2005. The health monitoring institute then points out the excessively high concentrations of lead and arsenic on Samena beach, very popular with residents of Escalette and tourists. The values exceed acceptable health risks. Sea urchins and mussels are prohibited from fishing, and arrangements are made hastily while waiting for better.
In March 2012, the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture commissioned ADEME (Environment and Energy Management Agency) to define and orchestrate a work program. The objective: to prevent the health impacts linked to these massive deposits of “slag” along the coast, between the coves of Samena and Callelongue. These residues “testify to a whole history of the southern districts of Marseille,” recalls Didier Réault, president of the Calanques national park. We will erase the harmful impact of pollution while preserving heritage elements such as chimneys. »
A budget that has tripled over the years
Industrial exploitation of lead ores began there in the middle of the 19th century. The sector had up to eight foundries, some operating until 1920. The waste could have been dumped at the bottom of the valley, but it can also be found along the seaside or in embankments, like in Goudes, where it could have been used as materials in the past. “Of the forty sites concerned, twenty will be treated,” indicates Hervé Menchon, deputy mayor of Marseille in charge of the coast. Things are finally moving.
“The file was unblocked because there was a final round of discussion, which is very good news,” breathes Rolland Dadena, resident of Montredon and president of the Santé littoral sud association. “As a whistleblower, we sounded the alarm in 2020, by filing a complaint against X for endangering the lives of others. I want to believe that it has come to an end. »
The budget, it must be said, has only increased over the years and through various studies. To almost triple in the end, going from 4.7 million euros to 14 million. There was 500,000 euros missing from the pot, which the State decided to fill by increasing its participation to 6.6 million, the rest of the project being financed by the department, the city and the metropolis.
“People are in contact with the slag. »
“The region, which had been contacted, considered this as a Marseille project, even though it benefits from the influence of the park in economic terms, which also falls within its competence,” regrets Hervé Menchon. “This is not the region’s investment strategy, I understand that,” says Didier Réault, also a metropolitan councilor, who prefers to look ahead: “We are OK on financing, on the general economy of the region. project. We have planned public presentation and consultation sessions. You don’t do a project like this without informing. » He does not see work starting before 2025, when Hervé Menchon mentions a launch at the beginning of 2024.
Asked about the timetable and the technical solutions adopted, Ademe did not have authorization from the prefecture to respond to us. This argues that everything is not settled, and that broad communication will soon take place. Depending on the sites treated, the slag will in any case be either “confined”, to prevent dust from escaping, or excavated, in other words transported by truck to a storage site authorized for this type of residue. A disagreement with the city concerns in particular the Callelongue roundabout, where a shell made of false concrete rock is planned over the slag.
On the other hand, there is no doubt about one point of agreement: Samena beach. And this is where the construction will begin. “It’s the priority, there is a lot of lead and attendance,” notes Hervé Menchon. People are in contact with the slag. There is information that we cannot maintain because the signs are constantly vandalized. Some people are afraid for the site’s image. » “This remains active pollution, this is what remains difficult to understand,” adds the elected official. In 2026, this pollution should be removed in places, stabilized under carpets of vegetation elsewhere. In any case, normally out of harm’s way.