EU applies pressure

Vision of a cleaner future

The year 2015 is drawing closer. This is the date by which The European Union has deecreed all its member states must reach the required environmental standards for wastewater treatment. In accordance with the directive, agglomerations of more than 15,000 inhabitants had to be in compliance with European quality demands by December 2000 and all smaller communes by December 2005. Yet in 2007, 147 wastewater treatment plants in France still did not conform to the necessary standards.

The French Secretary of State for Ecology, Chantal Jouanno, claims that, according to the latest findings, 53 towns are still not up to EU standards but 41 of them are working hard to make the grade. It is estimated that it will take 500 million euro to obtain a clean bill of health.

The EU on the other hand, has lost its patience with 64 stragglers in France. The recent ultimatum handed down by Brussels, with a warning of possible sanctions, does seem to be having an effect on those dragging their heels. There is a particularly high concentration of them in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region (PACA) and in Corsica. In the Alpes-Ma-ritimes the two most worrying cases are Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Cannes, both cited by newspaper Nice-Matin. Since March, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin has, however, started work on a 19 million euro project, which is sche-duled to be completed in 2012 and will obtain HEQ (High Environmental Quality) certification.

Late conversion

Cannes also appears to be finally complying with EU guidelines. It’s taken eight years of wrangling among the eight communes belonging to the greater Cannes agglomeration to reach a decision to convert the existing treatment plant, which is far below accepted European norms. Now the French government have intervened: for 77 million euro, Cannes and surrounding towns will have pure water.

A state-of-the-art installation with a 20 million euro price tag is promised by the Urban community of Nice Côte d'Azur. It is about time. For the past year, work has been underway to prevent emptying wastewater from Villefranche, Beaulieu, Eze and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat into the Mediterranean sea. By summer 2010, the waste-water pipes of these towns should be connected to the Nice Haliotis purification plant.

Lots of work ahead in the Var as well

Bringing up the rear in wastewater treatment issues are the neighbouring communes of Le Lavandou and Bormes-les-Mimosas. Their shared 17 million euro project was supposed to have been up and running by spring 2010 but, for administrative reasons, a veto from the prefecture has moved the date of completion to summer 2011. The treatment plant is designed for 100,000 people, thus should be able to deal with the expanding population during the summer season and the demographic development over the next 30 years. As is the case for all stragglers, Le Lavandou and Bormes-les-Mimosas will not benefit from official subsidies, worth up to 220,000 euros, for ‘good pupils’.

Wastewater treatment plants are also of vital impor-tance to tourist hubs Fréjus, Saint-Raphaël and Agay.

Recently, Agay has met EU environmental demands by increasing the capacity of its treatment plant from 25,000 to around 46,000 people, at a cost of 7.8 million euro. And in Fréjus also, 24 million euro will be invested into the proper biological treatment of wastewater by 2011, which will meet the needs of 350,000 people, instead of the previous 166,000.

And finally, Saint-Tropez gave the go ahead for a new treatment plant last November. In compliance with the latest regulations, 1,200 cubic meters will be filtered in less than one hour, eliminating the bacteria, via a biological process. The 15 million euro project should be completed by September.

R B-R/EL