You may have received a text message or an email this weekend, or perhaps found the information on Facebook and other social networks, but as of today, nothing confirms any pollution on the beaches of Nice. Now, the task remains to navigate the maze to find out who is behind this pseudo-leak that worried more than one Nice resident as well as tourists.
We also received some emails and text messages specifying that the emergency rooms were facing an influx of people showing signs of eye and urinary tract infections. The management of the CHU has not confirmed any greater influx than usual, and the Mayor of Nice has issued a communiqué, below, indicating that this was just a rumor and even considering a legal procedure to determine who is behind this “buzz.”
No further information has been provided at the moment, and the beaches of Nice were quite crowded during this national holiday weekend, which brought some lightly burnt individuals to the emergency room, having played the part of Sunday pyrotechnicians, or a few merry revelers who celebrated a little too hard on Saturday night….
Reaction from Christian Estrosi
Two beaches in Saint-Laurent-du-Var were closed on the morning of Tuesday, July 10th, due to an Escherichia coli level higher than the standards. The municipality immediately alerted the prefecture to launch an investigation to identify the source of the pollution. Last Thursday, one of the beaches reopened.
Since today, rumors have been circulating about the origin of this pollution. Christian Estrosi, Deputy, Mayor of Nice, President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, wants to put an end to them and is considering filing a complaint:
“These malicious messages are absurd and unacceptable rumors. No pollution has been detected at Carros or at the Cagnes-sur-Mer or Saint-Laurent-du-Var water treatment plants, as some text messages or messages on social networks claimed. Furthermore, there have been no cases of illness recorded in the emergency rooms. We will therefore file a complaint against the dissemination of this kind of slanderous message.”
As indicated during the week and after confirmation from the operator SEREX, the Saint-Laurent-du-Var wastewater treatment plant is operating correctly and does not discharge pollution into the Var or on beaches.
The new equipment was recently put into service, allowing two-thirds of the daily flow to be treated by a membrane process, which is currently the best existing process. The remaining one-third of the flow is treated using the traditional process with a clarifier, as has been the case since the station’s inception. In addition to this treatment, the water is disinfected with chlorine products before being discharged into the Var since the last quarter.
The station complies with the discharge standards imposed by the State and ensures the disinfection of the discharged waters with additional bacteriological treatment.
