Fire near Rouen: what the inspection report of the warehouse that burned says
Through Julien Bottler
Published on
After’fire that ravaged a battery and tire warehouse a Big Crownthis Monday, January 16, 2023, residents, activists and unions requiring transparency on facilities which burned. The prefecture published the measures taken during the fire. She also sent us the report produced by Dreal on the site in 2019.
What is this warehouse that burned down near Rouen?
Data on high-risk sites is not always easily accessible. Regarding the site that burned near Rouen on Monday, we must first know where to look.
It was a company warehouse SAS Logistics Highway France 8, containing four cells. The three victims by the fire are those Bolloré Logistics (lithium batteries), Distri Cash (tyres) and Ziegler (various logistics materials such as pallets).
The warehouse, which then belonged to the company CER Gallia France, was inspected on March 12, 2019 by the Dreal (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing). At the time, the company wanted to be authorized to store category 2 and 3 flammable liquids. This required, according to Dreal, “to file a complete registration file”.
What the Dreal report says
The report stated that “several points will require exemption requests from the operator, in particular with regard to the area of the cell and the means of defense against fire. These deductibles will require compensatory measures and, where applicable, could result in a changeover to
authorization procedure. According to the prefecture, this project to store other flammable products was therefore abandoned.
In 2019, the warehouse therefore had the rights to contain:
- Four tonnes of category 1* flammable liquids,
- 70 tonnes of category 2 and 3 flammable liquids,
- 40 tonnes of category 1 or 2 flammable aerosols containing category 1 or 2 flammable gases or category 1 flammable liquids,
- 21 tons of sodium hypochlorite mixtures classified as water power category 1,
- 30,000 meters3 of paper, cardboard or the like,
- 16,000m3 tires,
- battery charging workshops with a total power of 50,000 kW (corresponding to four tank charging premises).
All these products and volumes are those declared and registered (with regard to tires and paper, cardboard or the like), indicated by SAS Highway Logistics France 8 which operates the site since 2021.
“The authorization to operate the warehouse held by the company CER Gallia was remarkable at SARL Ivanhoé Logistique in November 2020. This authorization was then remarkable in April 2022 at SAS Highway France Logistics 8. It should be noted that these changes in the holder of the authorization to operate have no influence on the occupants of the site, who rent the storage cells to the holder of the authorization. The Bolloré company already occupied cell 1 of the warehouse in 2019”, adds the prefecture.
It is also difficult to trace the thread to find out behind the site operator. SAS Highway Logistics France 8 is part of a myriad of companies run by two men who appear to be financiers. The head office of the company is based in Montreuil but no way to contact him is available.
Why is the report not available online?
Since the Lubrizol fire, the requirement for transparency concerning sites at risk has become greater.
Legislation has changed to make it mandatory to post certain data on these sites, for example via the Géorisques site.
Or, the Grand-Couronne warehouse inspection report is not directly accessible online. This is because it predates the evolution of legislation. Or, before being put online, it would, like a multitude of other documents, need to be anonymized for the sake of protecting state agents.
We asked the prefecture to receive the inspection report from SAS Highway Logistics France on January 17, it was sent to us the next day.
Investigation and Complaint
Since Monday, firefighters are still active completely put out the fire that ravaged three cells in the warehouse.
The surveys for determine the causes of this major disaster have been appointed to the Rouen PJ and the Dreal. Many complaints will also be filed by the Robin Hood association and the unitary collective Lubrizol, which called for a rally on Monday January 23, 2023, at 6 p.m., before the Rouen court.
As for any pollution caused by combustion and fumes, they are subject to monitoring and analysis by the prefectural authorities. On his side, Atmo Normandy task to find out more about the peaks of fine particles measured after the fire.
*Find the details of the product categories on this site.
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