‘The matter has been settled’… after harmful substance spill, Nutergia reviews its wastewater treatment copy
In April 2024, the food supplement laboratory Nutergia was convicted of dumping a harmful substance in Foissac. The reason is the state of the site’s sewage treatment plant, which was installed in 2018. Since then, the company has undertaken work that will last until 2026.
The case dates back to 2022. In March, a first report was sent to the French Biodiversity Office (OFB). The nutritional supplement company, based in Capdenac-Gare and Causse-et-Diège, was then accused of dumping a harmful substance in Foissac. The OFB then travels as part of an investigation and notes “rotten-smelling discharges”.
If the exact origin of the problem remains difficult to determine, the “environmental police”, who have visited the site several times, note “that the company’s sewage treatment plant”, installed in 2018, “is malfunctioning and there is a blockage in one ditch” . After several samples, the results showed pollution, but “no fish mortality.”
Subsequently, the Court of Justice of Rodez condemns, according to a criminal decision of April 24, 2024, the laboratory to pay a composition fine to the Public Fund, amounting to 1,000 euros, to be paid within the next three months. But also for the restoration of the damage caused by the violation.
“The issue has been resolved”
Nutergia, which describes itself as an environmentally sensitive company, and which is committed to “an ecologically responsible approach”, defends itself against any willful negligence. “It actually connected to one of our buildings which eventually failed. Now the issue is resolved.”
In June 2022, Nutergia decides to “rehabilitate the drainage basin and the retention basin (…) to validate the effectiveness of good drainage”. However, new samples taken in early 2023 show that the concern remains. “Treated water remains loaded with organic or biological matter.”
In the same year, the laboratory began audits and technical studies to “adjust its wastewater treatment.” In early 2024, the solution chosen is “the installation of a temporary pilot biological treatment plant, which started in May”. A station that “also takes steps to dimension as much as possible the exact needs” of the new structure.
The tests, carried out over a period of 12 to 18 months, demonstrate “the compliance of biological analyzes at the outlet” and specify the construction project of a new sewage treatment plant (STEP). For this, “we expect the land containing the current basins to be buildable, by the end of the year, to host, by 2026, the new STEP”.
