Monaco Sea Extension Creates Controversy in Var
Marc Vuillemot, Mayor of La Seyne, organised a breakfast with the CIL, when concerns were reaffirmed about a project which will transport 2.2 million tons of limestone extracted from a quarry of Revest by Brégaillon, for Monaco.
The transportation of 2.2 million tons of limestone in the Var for the project ‘extension at sea’ in the Principality is under debate. Seyne-sur-mer requires written contracts, associations want a public inquiry
Mayor of La Seyne, Marc Vuillemot, in a meeting with the committees of local interest (CIL), reaffirmed the municipality’s determination to instil certain measures that will counteract the inconveniences which will be inevitably caused by the transportation of 22 million tons of limestone, scheduled for next summer from Brégaillon, for the ‘sea extension’ project in the Principality.
More than 1,000 trucks weighing 40 tons each on the DN559, every week in both directions of traffic between Le Revest and La Seyne! “…while making sure that these inconveniences are as minimized as possible,” said the mayor, who recalled the stakes of this colossal project and the questions it raised with the “installation, at Brégaillon, of a device designed to load gravel onto barges coming from Revest, to transport them to Monaco.” The first stones will leave the quarry in Revest, operated by La Someca, in early 2017 to be stored in Lagoubran (in former slaughterhouses).
“Воuygues deceived us”
The stones will be washed and loaded onto boats beginning this summer, for eight months in Brégaillon. A similar second phase will take place from December 2018 to August 2019. The Mayor stressed the many concerns which were raised by this project “in regards to quality of life in general”. A feeling shared by Christiane Hummel, mayor of Valletta (which will also be crossed by trucks loaded with gravel), CIL Seynois and environmental associations. “Bouygues has deceived us,” said Marc Vuillemot, “Within the framework of the project, the manufacture of caissons, which created 700 to 900 jobs – an acceptable counterpart – was planned in La Seyne. Now, one or two days before the ultimatum, Bouygues told us that the manufacturing would be carried out in Marseille.” Action will be taken.
Anthony Civettini summarized the position of the city, which will use authority from the State: “We wish to formalize two requests. Firstly, that a wider consultative inquiry be set up. Then, that all means be implemented and co-signed with the city, in formal, written commitments, point by point, detailing with all the issues of concern and commitments from Bouygues and Someca”. Faced with their concerns about a project that “generates no economy for the city” local committees from Seynes, in a letter, denounced the transports which will lead the Seynois population “to be confronted with two years of absolutely unbearable inconveniences”. The CIL de Brégaillon wants the operators to finance a monitoring committee, which will guarantee independent and contradictory expertise. Represented by its vice-president, Michel Pierre, the departmental union for the preservation of life, nature and the environment (UDVN83), in a letter co-signed with CIL, asked for the opening of a public inquiry, “As was the case at Revest and Lagoubran”. “The volume of water used to clean the stones will represent 10% of the annual consumption of the city, the truck traffic will generate 40% more air pollution, in contradiction with the European directives. Finally, the 25 tonnes of waste produced by the Var works every year could have been recycled and used instead of using Revest limestone, which would have generated jobs,” said Michel Pierre.
