Provence - September 10, 2008
The daily rage of the inhabitants of Tricastin
Perhaps this is the incident too many. The one that residents of the Tricastin site will have the most difficulty digesting. Even if it does not present a priori any serious character, even if it does not imply any restriction on bathing, irrigation or water consumption, as was the case at the beginning of July, this fourth incident in two months begins to seriously annoy between Bollène, Lapalud and Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux. It is true that "the small soap opera side of the summer of nuclear incidents", the residents of the EDF plant would gladly have done without.
With a touch of resignation in his voice, Éric Mancellon, farmer from the hamlet of La Croisière, west of Bollène, admits his weariness. “What do you want us to do?” He asks, “because even if we do not let ourselves be done, even if we denounce all the problems that these repeated incidents cause us, we know very well that they won't shut down the plant or the rest. " So, Eric Mancellon does like most of the neighbors of the nuclear site: he defends himself. On July 7, when 74kg of uranium from the Socatri site spilled into nearby rivers and the water table, it was prohibited from using its borehole to water its fields. Result: 2500 lost salads. And a compensation file immediately filed with Areva.
But getting redress is not his only concern. "In this story, it's our image that takes a hit, he worries. I also hope that they will pay for a nice advertisement on the Vaucluse on TV to correct it." The image is precisely what torments the winegrowers of the region. At least the sixty private cellars and cooperatives of the Coteaux du Tricastin appellation. After the first incident, at the beginning of July, some winegrowers have also unearthed an idea that was a few years old: to obtain from the National Institute of Designations of Origin (Inao) the change of the name of their AOC. "It is the fruit of a very long tradition and this name corresponds to a natural site that existed long before nuclear power, but it is true that it is starting to harm us", admits Alain Bayonne, director of the cooperative by Suzela-Rousse. According to him, this is not a figment of the imagination: "regular customers and consumers have become more cautious" vis-à-vis Tricastin wines in recent weeks.
"Wholesalers write to us to let us know about their difficulties in selling our products because of their name," notes Alain Bayonne, regretting that this movement "adds to the slump" which has hit the wine profession for five or six years. As proof, on the internet, there are pages and pages devoted to the dangers of the atom that scroll when you type "Tricastin" in the "search" window. The pages dedicated to the quality of the wines of this magnificent terroir do not come until much later. Problem: the steps to change the name of an appellation are not considered very easy, nor very fast. "But there is an emergency," explains the side of the AOC Coteaux du Tricastin union, as if to convince itself that Inao would understand the meaning and the need for this request.
Despite some resistance, some winegrowers find it difficult to admit that they are forced to give up a large part of their identity. Because today, the hundreds of jobs and the generous subsidies paid by the site's companies (14 million euros per year in respect of the professional tax for the EDF power station alone) are no longer enough to settle the dispute.
say that I have been drinking on the rhone side for years and that there has been an underlying leak for years in the groundwater ... well it's OVER I will drink more na!
