After a complaint from the environmental association Sepansofiled on January 12, 2024, the judge of freedoms and detention issued an order this Tuesday, April 2 which imposes several measures on the Arcachon Basin intercommunal union (SIBA) and to its delegate, the Arcachon Basin sanitation company (SB2A) to control pollution of the natural environment and the rainwater network, due to wastewater overflows in several municipalities in the Arcachon Basin.
After the presence of norovirus (main causes of gastroenteritis) at the end of the year which led to the ban on the marketing of oysters, new overflows have taken place recently, carrying excrement and toilet paper into the gardens. Overflows were confirmed in Titoune, in the commune of Lanton, which is a wastewater retention basin normally serving as a buffer when the network is saturated. And wastewater discharges have also been observed near the Audenge retention basin.
Emergency measures, under penalty of penalties
The court asks in its order that 20 minutes was able to consult, the immediate cessation of all pumping activity in the Audenge safety basin and the establishment of a screening system (pretreatment of wastewater) in the two basins of Lanton and Audenge, within a period of six months. It also calls for the implementation of water quality controls by an independent laboratory on both sites.
And finally, within four months, he asks the union to make an official request to the departmental directorate of territories and the sea (DDTM) for “the construction of a storm spillway on each of the safety basins of the Arcachon Basin sanitation network”. The French biodiversity office is invited to carry out recurring checks on the network.
These measures are in place for twelve months, the maximum duration provided for by law. The intercommunal union incurs 1,000 euros in penalties per day of delay in implementing the court’s decisions.
And after ?
The manager argues that climatic conditions have been particularly unfavorable, with five storms and three marine submersions recently. He defends the choice of favoring controlled overflow from the two safety basins of Titoune and Audenge which are those furthest possible from residential areas, the Arcachon Basin and oyster farming areas. He assures that massive and uncontrolled overflows could have occurred at different points in the Basin, without these “chosen” overflows.
At this stage, the judge can only take provisional measures to put an end to “a disturbance caused to the environment” but he notes that the dimensions of the sanitation network appear unsuitable. An observation that goes beyond this procedure. No criminal action has yet been taken in this case.