“We are helpless”: in France, elected officials and associations are alarmed by pesticides found in the groundwater

Almost a third of the country’s groundwater are polluted by pesticides and nitrates, according to a report by the European Commission.

European rivers are in a “Critical state”, especially in France. In a new report, published Tuesday, February 4, the European Commission calls into question the many pollution that deteriorates water quality. The study also alerts “A very worrying situation” In France, where the water tables are contaminated. Almost a third of the country’s groundwater are polluted by pesticides and nitrates, according to the European Commission.

In Charente-Maritime, the mayor of L’Houmeau, Jean-Luc Algay analyzed his water table last year and discovered “Lots of things, even products from years 1970 who were arrested and who are still there at 14 meters deep. ” Dieldrine, Dimethachlore, chlorothalonil: these pesticides are above standards. They do not represent a risk for tap water, but are the subject of an appeal to prudence to all those who use their well to water their vegetable patch.

The mayor feels abandoned: “I sent letters to ministers, I sent letters to the ARS. We are helpless. We must find emergency solutions at European level, at the national level and stop going into the wall. And you have to support farmers. “

Supporting farmers is the solution to reduce the use of pesticides, assures Alexis Guilpart, from France Nature Environnement. But according to him, the state is not up to par. “There is a kind of procrastination, not to say a renunciation. There is a real ambition to have to change agricultural models towards fewer pesticides and less nitrates. It is not obvious politically, but on the other hand, doing nothing, it’s worse “assure Alexis Guilpart.