2023-11-24 19:35:01
Under fire from criticism, the Minister of the Environment defends her action on the PFAS issue. She in turn points to the resistance of liberals who are blocking the withdrawal of glyphosate.
Céline Tellier probably did not expect to come under such heavy fire. Having been in politics for four years, the former director of Canopea (formerly Inter-Environnement Wallonie) has had to manage the file of the PFAS pollution. Criticized by the opposition and its liberal partner, challenged by a population who are worried regarding the quality of their tap water, the Minister of the Environment admits mistakes. But the ecologist highlights his integrity in a fight once morest pollution where she says she faces resistance from “liberal conservatives”.
The appointment is made on Wednesday at his office. On the table, notes and tables that she will present that same evening to the population of Ath. During her hearing in parliament this Friday, she will reiterate her apologies for the lack of proactive communication to citizens. “I am sincerely sorry for this situation.” The days go by and following the problems observed in Chièvres and Ronquières, it is a wastewater treatment plant located near Charleroi airport which is causing concern with levels of PFAS 25 times higher than the vigilance standard located at 30 ng/l. She reassures. “Be careful not to mix everything up, between catchment water, that is to say raw water as found in the ground, and tap water. Between these different stages, there are filtration mechanisms to remove pollutants found in the soil.”
She wants to be reassuring. This will not prevent senseless acts of disgruntled people. During the interview, a letter filled with white powder was opened at the reception of his office. A false alarm, but which says a lot regarding the state of mind!
Should the Walloon population be concerned regarding the quality of their water?
“There is no reason to consider that we have a global water quality problem in Wallonia.”
No! According to the latest monitoring figures planned since September (she insists on the fact that this request predates the crisis), and intended to have an overview of the presence of PFAS in Walloon water in order to anticipate the future European standard of 2026, there is no reason to consider that we have a global water quality problem in Wallonia. We have already tested 306 water distribution zones out of 645 (figures updated this Friday). This represents more than 60% of the Walloon population in terms of coverage. We are 100% compliant, 100% of the values are below the threshold of 100 nanograms of the future drinking standard. We nevertheless have a value which is limited to Ronquières with 97.
The desire is to anticipate in Wallonia the arrival of this standard of 100, the entry into force of which was planned in 2026…
Yes. This means that as soon as there should be an excess, there will be actions such as informing the municipalities, the provision of bottled water, but also mechanisms to reduce overruns. But once once more, I insist: the water remains good quality water in Wallonia, of excellent quality even.
We are also setting up a precautionary principle. Beyond a threshold of vigilance, which I propose to set at 30 nanograms, water distributors will initiate a series of actions which will make it possible to prioritize operations in these places in order to avoid going near the standard of 100. But this threshold of 30 is not a health threshold. It is simply a mechanism for prioritizing distributor action.
Are many places today exceeding this threshold of vigilance?
Of the 306 zones analyzed, there are 8 which are greater than 30. There are Ronquières (97ng/l), Virginal (83), Tubize (76), Braine-le-Château (71), Beauvechain (70), Ittre/Baulers (67), Amay (39) and Nodebais (37). There is some consistency in part between these areas. I summoned Vivaqua and other operators to understand the origin of the pollution in the ground and launch an environmental investigation. I have asked the administration to provide us with a detailed analysis of the issue of PFAS standards in the industrial sector. But apart from industry, PFAS are everywhere, in what we eat, in what we wear, in the frying pan…
But Wallonia alone will not be able to ban the use of PFAS…
Non, I plead at European level for us to cut off the tap at the source. It’s possible. There is a regulation called REACH which has been on the table of the European Commission to be able to stop the marketing of these PFAS.
“The problem unfortunately comes from the liberals and conservatives at the European level who have called for an environmental pause.”
I now hear some conservatives, like the president of the MR, saying that putting PFAS on the market is a good thing and at the same time ask local and regional public authorities that there be no trace of these PFAS anywhere. It’s a schizophrenic equation. We must move from post-war chemistry to green chemistry. The problem unfortunately comes from the liberals and conservatives at European level who called for an environmental pause. This call for a pause means that today the Commission has put the revision of the REACH regulation in its drawers.
You pointed out the president of the MR… Do you feel a desire in Belgium to press pause on certain regulations?
It’s very clear! When we have discussions within the Walloon government on the issues of chemical substances, when we talk regarding pesticides, when we talk regarding standards in business permits, there is a different approach between the MR and Ecolo. I hope that the crisis we are experiencing today with PFAS is not the tree that hides the forest, as some wish by focusing on Chièvres so that we do not talk regarding the global ban on PFAS, but the tree that shows the forest and the much more global environmental pollution that we must imperatively regulate as a public authority. I hope we will have the Liberals on our side to lead this fight.
You are criticized for errors such as not having been proactive in this matter. A gray area remains. In October 2021, the SWDE asks your office and the administration in writing to organize a consultation on the presence of PFAS in water. This letter remained unanswered?
You refer to a letter in which the SWDE also takes note of an exceptional request from the Minister of the Environment for an adapted control plan concerning PFAS in order to anticipate a future standard. The SDWE is therefore surprised by our proactivity considering that it is exceptional to request complete monitoring with regard to a standard that does not yet exist. This request clearly shows that since I was alerted to the Chièvres case in July 21 in Parliament, I have never stopped asking to investigate things. and indeed to have a control plan adapted to the month of September at the SWDE. It is within the framework of this exceptional request that the SWDE requests consultation and indeed there was no follow-up to this request. This is probably an error. We can rewrite history, but for me, this element demonstrates above all that my desire was to tackle the problem head on by following a precautionary principle.
This nevertheless demonstrates flaws in the communication between political offices and administrations… Aren’t there procedures to be reviewed?
There are lessons to be learned from this story. Exceeding (in Chièvres) a future standard should have been the subject of communication and should have gone up to all levels and not remained at the level of an advisor. If I had been alerted by these values, even knowing that the standard was not yet in force, it is obvious that I would have asked that the municipalities be informed and that alternative solutions would have been given to consumers in the meantime. that the solution is found.
We must clarify, where necessary, the chain of command so that the instructions are clear. It is by following a strictly legalistic approach to things, considering that the standard was not yet in force, that some people probably were not worried regarding the excesses. But to say that nothing has been done is objectively false.
When we talk regarding pollutants, we often have a gray area between the moment of medical and health alerts from scientists on certain chemical substances, and the moment when the public authority has all the arsenal to regulate things. I’m not just pointing out PFAS but a series of pollutants like glyphosate.
You are the responsible minister. You have a political responsibility. Have you considered resigning?
I asked myself the question of my responsibility in all of this. I am not attached to power. It is not an end in itself for me to be in power.
“The situation would have been different if I had been alerted and had consciously made the decision not to inform the population. In this case, it is obvious that I would have resigned.”
On the other hand, the end in itself is to fight once morest pollution. My responsibility today was to ensure that actions might be taken as quickly as possible to reassure the population and so that we might work on the source of the problems. The situation would have been different if I had been alerted and if I had consciously made the decision not to inform the population. In this case, it is obvious that I would have resigned. But this is not the case.
The MR considers your position untenable…
I hear what the president of the MR is saying. I have not heard a call for resignation from the Walloon MR. And it is clear in any case that, at the level of the PS, things are clear and at the level of my party too. I obviously comply with this exercise of parliamentary control. What I obviously also expect is a form of intellectual honesty on the part of the deputies, whether they are in the majority or in the opposition, and to recognize things. After, if some people want to play an electoral game, that’s up to them. In any case, this is not my vision of politics.
Europe has just extended the use of glyphosate for 10 years. In the name of the precautionary principle that you put forward, will Wallonia anticipate the withdrawal of glyphosate?
We have a pesticide reduction plan. But we must go further. It’s clear that I will put various proposals on the government’s table in the coming weeks to further regulate the use of these chemical substances.. But be careful, let’s put things in their place. Who today is blocking any progress in terms of pesticides and glyphosate in particular? It’s the MR and it’s David Clarinval in particular, at the federal level, which pushed to support the ten-year extension of the use of glyphosate at the European level. To anticipate the withdrawal of glyphosate, agreement is required from the entire Walloon and federal government. The MR seems to be discovering the precautionary principle today through the PFAS scandal.
Does Ecolo emerge weakened from this affair?
I am not sure. We receive more messages of support than anger from citizensnotably in all the letters that we receive at cabinet level, and which point out the responsibility of the liberals in the fact that we are not moving forward quickly enough in the framing of these chemical substances.
Key phrases
- “I insist: the water remains good quality water in Wallonia, of excellent quality even.“
- “We must move from post-war chemistry to green chemistry. The problem unfortunately comes from liberals and conservatives at European level who called for an environmental pause.”
- “The situation would have been different if I had been alerted and had consciously made the decision not to inform the population. In this case, it is obvious that I would have resigned.”
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