Fumel factory site could be privately – 27/07/2018

The liquidation of the plant a month and a half ago marks the end of the activity at the plant. For the owner community, the question arises of the future of the 20 ha site

After the liquidation of Metal Aquitaine and the dismissal of the last 38 employees of the plant in early June, marking the end of 171 years of metallurgical and industrial history in Fumel, the question of the future of this gigantic 20-hectare site on the banks of the Lot, of which 2 with tourist vocations around the Watt machine, arises.

Asked about the subject yesterday, the president of the community of communes Fumel Lot Valley, owner of the Fumel plant, Didier Caminade, recalled that the site, now empty, costs 120 000 € per year to the community "in tax on built land and building insurance. Only way to reduce this bill, shave the factory. "

There is the problem of clean-up, pointed a few weeks ago by Nicolas Narice, CGT delegate of Metal Aquitaine, who regretted the lack of support from local authorities. a possible recovery project today stalled: "We are told that there is no public money to help the industry in Fumel, but to demolish and clean up, it will cost much more than help a box of 20 or 30 employees to leave, and we carry an economic project for as many families. "

19 ha to clean up

Indeed, the depollution of the site will have a cost:" There is two types of pollution to treat, "says Didier Caminade. "The one before the plant was sold in 2015. That is not the responsibility of the community. On the other hand, for the rest of the site, about 19 ha, it is up to the owner, so in Fumel Valley of the Lot, to get down to it. "

In the coming weeks, two studies of the DREAL, dating from 2008 to 2014, should be summarized: "Since there is no more polluting industrial activity since 2014, perhaps this synthesis will be sufficient. Otherwise, it will take a soil study. A priori, there is no big point, or spot of pollution, which would be the most expensive. "

The demolition, valorized by the sale of the scrap metal, could, according to Didier Caminade, finance the depollution of the site. "But behind, we do not have the means, alone, to carry a project of this scale". Back to the starting point: what to do with the site and who pays?

Especially in terms of depollution, the cost depends on the future: "We called on a firm to have badistance to the control of 'work. The idea in the coming weeks is to establish a set of specifications to define what the community wants on this site. An appeal will then be made to grant the development of the site. "

Null cost to the community

Objective of Fumel elected officials Community? Find a private operator who would take charge of the demolition of the site and its depollution and then build one or new projects. "The obvious interest is that it will not cost the community anything. The operator takes charge of demolition, depollution and construction. What holds the rope because we have an actor who has manifested, in this case "The General Solar" is the installation of a photovoltaic farm. To reach the breakeven point, the company announces that it needs at least 15 ha. "It is planned to build an eco-district, with a building in R +1, with the ground floor shops and above housing. But we can also consider a commercial area, a park, craft activities … It's open. We have a project, it is the operator who will be retained after the call for development concession to build the project with us. "

For Didier Caminade, who recognizes that the prospect of seeing a solar farm d 'at least 15 ha close to the city center of Fumel does not fill it with joy, it is however the most serious track and the fastest to set up today:' Do not be fooled , find a private operator who wants to invest on the site, there will not be much. In Tonneins, the Tobacco Factory is still on the arms of the city 20 years after the closure. Here, the advantage of a solar farm is that it does not involve touching the basement, which in terms of development costs less. And so it's more profitable. If others have better ideas, realistic and financeable, I am all ears. "

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More future for metallurgy

As for the possibility of seeing a recovery of metallurgical know-how on the spot, the president from the community of communes Fumel Valley of the Lot, Didier Caminade does not believe it: «We had dug the track of the aeronautics since a ten years, with Figeac Aéro in particular, but today these subcontractors are subjected to the builders' order book and above all they do not need us. Even for a semi-industrial activity, it is far from the highway, the railway, no one wants to send trucks so far. We can imagine on the site of craftsmanship, innovation. But the prerequisite is to shave everything. "