Alang in the Lot
They work without masks, without gloves, shirtless, and with cigarettes in their mouths, making skin contact with the poisonous fumes they abundantly inhale. This is neither in Alang (India) nor in Bangladesh; it is at Laval-de-Cère, a town bordering the Massif Central, at the edges of the Cère, a tributary of the Dordogne. For ten years, Sidénergie has been transforming creosoted railway sleepers into coal for barbecue, thanks to a waiver granted by the French Superior Council of Public Hygiene.
Ban on Perchlorethylene : a fake measure
The Ministry for Ecology has put together a plan confirming the use of perchlorethylene, a solvent that is toxic for humans and the environment, until 2028. As a result, all Laundromat owners buying dry cleaning equipment containing perchlorethylene until the deadline of January 1st 2013 will be able to use it for fifteen years.
The text is so complicated and tangled that the members of the High Council for Technological Risks Prevention, on their June 26th 2012 meeting, only discovered this deadline after two and a half hours of debate.
Seineland
”It’s about offering people living in Paris and around a major public space, several hectares in size, for new economic, cultural and sporting zones.” With lounges, exhibitions, restaurants, businesses, recreation areas, the Tour de France, event complexes and night clubs, the project is destined to welcome a mixture of entertainment and a crossbreeding of lucrative concessions. Short of land, the Mayor of Paris found in the global holdings of UNESCO some golden hectares, which will not stop city hall, if the project is ratified, to hunt the aid for public institutions like the Seine-Normandy Water Agency or ADEME to sensitize users to the handling of their cigarette butts and shot glasses.
