Carcinogenic gas in drinking water: a lawsuit filed to "force the State to react"

Two associations filed an appeal on October 27th with the Nantes Administrative Court, asking the judge to to order the State "To better detect water contamination by VCM, a gas classified as a 'known carcinogen,'" their lawyer explained. This legal action for an injunction is a first in France on the subject of the CVM and aims to force the State, which has not responded to us for months, to react.", Me Gabrièle Gien, a lawyer specializing in environmental law, told AFP.

Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is a gas found in PVC drinking water pipes installed in the 1970s, classified as a "definite" carcinogen since 1987. It is believed to cause liver cancer, among other things, according to the Ministry of Health. It is estimated to be present in 151 to 301 parts per 100 km of the French water network, according to researcher Gaspard Lemaire, who told AFP that 275,000 km of pipes are potentially contaminated, specifying that Less than a quarter of the recorded infections are said to be made public“.

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"A lack of reaction from the State"“ 

This action follows several others initiated by residents of different municipalities in France facing pollution from CVM and " to a lack of response from the State" , insists Ms. Gien. She aims to obtain a " compliance with applicable regulations", particularly regarding the identification of contaminated pipeline sections, monitoring, but also informing the affected populations. According to Ms. Gabrièle Gien, " Mistakes have been made, and it is also a matter of acknowledging certain responsibilities.“.

“ So far, we have tried to engage in dialogue with all parties involved, such as water unions and Regional Health Agencies (ARS).“,” said Hervé Conraux, a member of the Sarthe Citizens' Committee, which filed the appeal alongside the departmental branch of France Nature Environnement. “Due to insufficient measures being taken, It was time to act on a national scale, to ensure compliance with rules that were not being respected and to elicit reactions." he added.