Petition richtet sich an: Petitionsausschuss des Europäischen Parlaments

The petitioner refers to the Occitanie region in Languedoc, a wine-producing, authentic region, much appreciated by a fast growing community of Europeans, situated near Narbonne. Less than 2 km from Narbonne’s residential districts, the company Orano Malvési-Narbonne, owned by the French state and international investors, purifies 25 % of all uranium worldwide and 100 % of uranium within France. It is classified as a high threshold SEVESO site. Since 1959, 500 000 tonnes of uranium have been processed, supplying uranium for 58 nuclear reactors in France, other partners in Europe and foreign customers. A stockpile of contaminated waste (400 000 m3) is classified as a Basic Nuclear Facility (BNF). The site discharges chemical and climate pollutants into the environment, including into the Canal de la Robine (UNESCO heritage site), which flows into the lagoon at the Étang de Bages-Sigean, a Natura 2000 protected area. When in 2004, a dyke broke releasing 30 000 m3 of radioactive sludge, public protests started, on account of the environmental impact (air, water, soil and riparian) and dangers. Uranium and daughter products have been detected in plants and farm crops (fruits, cereals) near the site. The petitioner also refers to a significantly higher death rate from lung cancers and the fact that no epidemiological study has been carried out. New facilities provoking additional releases have been authorised and will add over 40 000 m3 of toxic gases per hour to the current level of emissions. The petitioner challenges the legality of the public inquiry held before this authorisation was granted. A new factory manufacturing uranium dioxide was further authorised in 2018, this time without any public consultation or impact study and without informing the local population of the health, ecological and economic consequences. The ‘Collectif des citoyens européens du narbonnais’ decided to demand their right to live in a healthy environment in order to prevent environmental or public health disasters in the future.