On the first Saturday of November, the city of Mulhouse (Alsace) hosted a meeting between the bureau of EFAY - European Free Alliance Youth, the Coppieters Foundation and the political movement Unser Land - Mouvement Alsacien on the occasion of the international conference “Ecosystem Integrity in Europe - mitigating water pollution, mining risk and health hazards”.
The conference, attended by local and European politicians, scientists, professors and lawyers, aimed to highlight the complicated situation at the former Stocamine potash mines, nowadays a deposit site for “hazardous” and “very hazardous” waste.
STOCAMINE, A FORMER POTASSIUM MINE NOW A STORAGE CENTRE
In the town of Wittelsheim, a few kilometres from the city of Mulhouse, lies one of Alsace's most important potassium mines.
Established and operational since the beginning and for most of the 20th century, the Wittelsheim mine was a strategic point of interest for the economic development of the region and also a “popular” destination for many European migrants who came here in search of work.
In 1976, the potash extraction plant ceased operations, and twenty years later, the French government converted the site - not without controversy and discontent among the population - into a storage centre for “hazardous” and “highly hazardous” waste.
The facility, named Stocamine, received within five years - from 1997 to 2002, the year of its shutdown - approximately 42,000 tonnes of waste, including arsenic, chromium and mercury.
BELOW ARSENIC AND MERCURY, ABOVE AN AQUIFER
The peculiarity of the Stocamine waste facility lies in the fact that it is located concurrently – or, more precisely, below – one of the largest and most important aquifers in Europe.
In recent years, the Alsatian autonomist movement “Unser Land - Mouvement Alsacien” has been at the centre of the debate because it has focused attention on this storage facility and the possibility of groundwater pollution, which - it is worth remembering - is the main source of drinkable and agricultural water for 7 million people.
In this regard, the French State, which owns the site, has not yet officially stated whether the risk of groundwater pollution is real or merely hypothetical.
It is certainly true that over the years the centre has suffered flooding, fires and extensive damage due to less than optimal storage management.
The Stocamine affair, as reiterated by representatives of Unser Land, mainly concerns the management of waste. To date, it appears that the French State is considering two options for intervention: completely removing the waste from the site or confining it within a water-repellent concrete container.
In particular, the feasibility of the second option, as pointed out during the conference, displays numerous complications.
The waste is in fact stored alongside the tunnels used for potassium extraction in the former mine, at a depth of 500 metres. This would make it particularly expensive and (due to the geological characteristics of the water aquifer) could even render attempts to build a concrete barrier around the waste futile.
A POTENTIAL CASE OF ECOCIDE?
Concerning the environmental management of the site, Paola Vitale and Carola Brand, representatives of Youth for Ecocide Law and World Youth for Climate Justice respectively, addressed the issue. The two LL.M.s in International Law emphasised that the company responsible for storage had in fact committed “illegal acts” in 1997 by failing to provide for specific practices for the reversibility of storage, as required in the authorisation resolutions issued at the time by the prefect.
They also highlighted that, with regard to the Stocamine centre, the Strasbourg Administrative Court had ruled that “the consequences of a possible rise in contaminated water within the aquifer are limited”, effectively admitting the existence of a real risk of aquifer contamination.
These assumptions would lead to the Stocamine case being considered a potential case of ecocide: a legal term (not yet present in many state legal systems) that would indicate a criminally punishable offence for those who “knowingly commit illegal acts that could lead to serious, widespread and prolonged damage to the environment”. Ultimately, it is for all competent judges to evaluate the facts of this case according to all applicable law, including international law, and determine the final outcome.
COULD AUTONOMY BECOME A TOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION?
The decision to store hazardous waste at Stocamine was taken unilaterally by the French State in 1997, which deliberated regardless of the protests and requests of local political groups and the population.
Representatives of Unser Land - Mouvement Alsacien and a large part of civil society have been demanding for years that management of the former potash mine be entrusted to the Region, in order to ensure more careful governance and meaningful citizen participation in matters that profoundly affect the territory.
Thirty years later, seven million people could be at risk of no longer having access to drinking water or safe water. This has happened because the State has prioritised major economic interests over the real needs of the territories, acting negligently with regard to environmental protection and citizens' right to health.
A spontaneous question emerges: if the Alsatian population had been able to decide freely and autonomously on the fate of their territory, would the situation be better today?