Black droplets at Espiguette: the beach reopened this Saturday July 27, what we know about this pollution episode

Les plages de l’Espiguette et du Baronnet ont dû être fermées tout ce vendredi 26 juillet et samedi jusqu'en fin de matinée. Midi Libre – Archives MiKAEL ANISSET

The Gard prefect had banned fishing and swimming in this area this Friday, July 26, after an episode of maritime pollution. The town of Grau-du-Roi lifted the bans this Saturday.

A “pollution episode” was reported around 2:30 p.m. this Friday, July 26, on the beaches of Espiguette and Baronnet, belonging to the town of Grau-du-Roi.

“Moderate pollution was observed, characterized by slicks of two different types: viscous black slicks that extend into the sea near the beaches and scattered over 6 kilometers in length, and more concentrated white slicks that extend 5 nautical miles from the beaches. These are not very mobile and have a foamy appearance", explained the services of the Gard prefecture in the evening, while the beaches had been closed for swimming and fishing.

Dark matter

This incident led the Gard prefect Jérôme Bonet to activate the Polmar (POLlutions MARines) Terre device "in order to have the necessary means to identify the nature of the population and begin the cleaning procedure", specified the representative of the State.

Returning to the progress of the operations, the Gard prefecture detailed the circumstances of this pollution episode, indicating that “during the episode, a very small quantity of black matter washed up on the Espiguette beach”. This mobilized the “specialized resources of the Marseille marine firefighter battalion, in support of the Gard firefighters to carry out sampling operations in order to identify the nature of these deposits”.

Reopened after inspection

Closed to swimming and fishing, Espiguette beach and the Baronnets and Espiguette car parks were still under surveillance this Saturday, July 27 in the morning. The whole complex was finally reopened around 11:15 a.m.

The municipality of Grau-du-Roi indicating that "hydrocarbon stains and particles were detected near the Espiguette first aid station. As a precautionary measure, the prefecture has banned swimming and fishing and the City has suspended access to the beach and the two car parks, before specifying that, from 5:30 a.m. this Saturday, “the City and the State have carried out several visual checks at sea using drones and with the support of an airplane and a helicopter, and a land reconnaissance of the entire Espiguette beach by the City and State services. No further particles or residues have been observed on land or at sea. Analyses of the samples taken yesterday are underway to determine the nature and origin of this incident".