They discovered the project last month after the prefectural authorization was issued. HAS Markéglisesmall village of 500 inhabitants near Ressons-sur-Matzmust be implemented lagoon of digestate of methanizer. Another lagoon, at least, is planned in Beaugies. In a few weeks, a collective has just been formed to oppose this installation: the CollectiveMarquéglisealready with around fifty members. Stéphanie Villemin, one of its spokespersons, summarizes the project as follows: “It will be nothing more and nothing less than a shit pool.” The words are raw, at the height of the rejection of the lagoon.
There methanization is a process of biological degradation of organic or plant matter. The digestate is the product of this degradation. The Marquéglise lagoon must accommodate this digestate awaiting spreading in the fields, the methanizer being already active in the commune of Braisnes-sur-Arondebetween Ressons and Compiègne. It is operated by two farmers united in a SAS called Metha-Oise which owns the Marquéglise land where the lagoon is to be installed.
Fear of pollution of “soil, water and air”
“This lagoon will receive everything that comes out of this methanizer, namely residues of rye, silage, beet leaves, chicken droppings, etc.,” lists Stéphanie. Non-exhaustive list. The mobilized village residents generally fear “pollution of soil, water and air”, particularly “nitrogen and phosphorus”. “This basin must be installed 1.2 km from homes,” explains Stéphanie Villemin, “we are obviously afraid of the odors, we are also afraid that it will overflow.” In short, a deterioration of the living environment while this lagoon is planned for 70 meters by 31 for 2 meters depth. Bigger than an Olympic swimming pool. Area: 2,000 m². Capacity: 6,000 m³.
But this is not the only concern of the collective. “We ask ourselves many questions about road traffic,” continues Stéphanie Villemin, “in the project, a maximum of 30 trucks per day are planned to supply or empty it. Is it going to be a daily parade? Where will they go? We don’t have the details.” The project simply stipulates, according to the collective, that trucks must “try as much as possible not to pass through the village”. “But nothing is stopping them,” notes the spokesperson for CollectifMarquéglise, who also wonders about how “these 23.5-ton trucks will pass other farmers on the small roads of Marquéglise.” All “in a village that is already very accident-prone where people drive like crazy.”
Any comments on the site?
The site chosen for the installation of this basin also raises questions for these activists. “We have just learned that this sector is full of marl pits (cavities, resulting from the exploitation of marl, chalk, Editor’s note) which were quickly filled in at the time,” continues the activist. “What will happen if this lagoon is built on one of these marl pits? Would it support this weight?
All these questions were presented by the CollectifMarquéglise during a public meeting on Tuesday, December 3 in the evening. The activists stand in this fight alongside the village mayor and his council who rejected the lagoon project last month, in an advisory vote. About fifty people attended the meeting.
Actions for the collective
“The mayor wrote to residents to present our fears. We also towed through the mailboxes to carry out a survey asking residents if they were in favor of this project, out of 153 voters, we had 153 votes against,” summarizes Stéphanie Villemin. An online petition on the Change.org platform was also posted online. It has so far collected 189 signatures in two weeks. The collective also opened his Facebook page.
And it’s not over: “We know that this fight is a bit like a pot of earth against a pot of iron, but we are going to do everything we can, starting with a demonstration tomorrow, Friday, December 6 in front of the town hall at 7 p.m.,” explains the collective. Secondly, on Friday December 12, the collective planned to meet the project leaders. The atmosphere promises to be tense.
We were unable to contact the managers of SAS Metha-Oise
