Associations met on Monday August 5 on the forecourt of Notre-Dame to demand total containment of the site. They are worried about the lack of protection of workers and residents from lead pollution.
Total containment of Notre-Dame. This is what the CGT is claiming from associations worried about lead particles released by the work. On Monday, August 5, they met on the forecourt of the burned-out cathedral to denounce the lack of protection for workers and residents. “You have to imagine a very large tent with a metal structure and a plastic tarpaulin around it to ensure waterproofing”, estimates Benoît Martin of the Departmental Union of the CGT quoted by France Info.
In July, Mediapart revealed that samples taken in early May in and around Notre-Dame showed lead levels 400 to 700 times higher than the authorized threshold. Levels of lead concentrations have also been recorded in nearby schools. Some are even sometimes ten times above the alert threshold. The labor inspectorate denounces numerous shortcomings, some workers operating without a mask, coveralls or gloves.
“We must clean up with much less conventional means”
Around the cathedral, the place Jean-Paul II, the rue de la Cité, and the Maurice Carême promenade are closed due to a too high level of lead and at the end of the month, the work is suspended. Then, Friday August 2, the prefecture of Ile-de-France decides to postpone the resumption of work to August 12 in order to strengthen the safety of the workers.
“Despite attempts to clean up, the pollution on the site and around remains too high. Now we have to clean up with much less conventional means. the right method not to redisperse the dust elsewhere. It took a little time to see what was working. The operation must start this week “, explains Anne Souyris (EELV) assistant for health at the town hall of Paris at Parisian Sunday August 4.
A need to go fast
On Tuesday August 6, the Paris city hall should make public new readings measuring lead contamination. If the latter reveal that other adjacent streets are polluted, Anne Souyris will also request their closure. “As soon as new readings are carried out, we will put the results online. We have asked the Prefecture of Police to do the same”, she informs, insisting on the need to go quickly, at the approach. back to school.
Because the authorities are mainly concerned with the safety of children. “For schools in the 5th and 6th arrondissements, which are 300 meters from places with a lead level greater than 5,000 micrograms per m2, we are continuing to carry out checks, in accordance with the new recommendations of the Regional Health Agency. To meet the deadlines, I was able to obtain the reinforcement of private providers “, explains Anne Souyris, specifying that all the schools located within a radius of 500 meters have been cleaned.
Ultimately, the elected representative would like to work on the depollution of cities in a sustainable manner with “the establishment of new standards and a real action plan with the State”. “We are planning a meeting with the mayor of Paris at the start of the school year with scientists and whistleblowers on the subject,” she concludes.
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