OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 4:50 PM PT – Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Five days after a massive fire broke out at a chemical plant in
Northern France, officials say the air quality is back to normal and no
pollutants have been detected. On Thursday, residents in Normandy woke
to loud explosions and massive flames coming from the factory owned by
U.S. investor Warren Buffet.After the fire, residents reported an oily residue on streets and cars while videos of black or grey tap water circulated on social media.
However, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said on Monday that lingering odors from the fire are unpleasant but not harmful. During a parliamentary session on Tuesday, the French Transport and Environment Minister echoed his claims, saying air quality has not been affected.
“All measures are being done to
ensure the air quality, and we’re continuing to do so. It’s also a
progress that we could do thanks to the experiment results of Interior
Accidents Services. From now, rescue and state services are given
everything so that they can conduct samplings and continual measures.
That’s what we did, and that’s what allows us to say, among all the
sought out pollutants, that no air pollutants are present in the air
Rouen residents breath.”
— Elisabeth Borne, French Transport and Environment Minister
Some farmers and residents are not reassured by these claims and have
taken to the streets to demand the government release all data on the
environmental impact. An investigation into what caused the fire is
currently underway.https://www.oann.com/officials-air-quality-is-safe-after-rouen-chemical-fire/