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Lodève: taking regional management into account

Reclaimed Lodeve site

At the former uranium deposit site of Lodève, France, environmental management and regional involvement have taken the place of the mining operations.

A former uranium mine, the Lodève (Hérault) site ceased operating in April 1997. It has been reclaimed since 2001.

Today, a team ensures:

  • Operation of the water treatment plant: the water to be treated comes from the entirely flooded mine and reclaimed quarries containing treated ore residue.
  • Environmental monitoring: the team temporarily provides supervision and monitoring of the former industrial part of the site. It is soon set to be retransformed into an industrial area again.

Environmental monitoring and management

The Lodève site was included in the scope of the ISO 14001 certification for the Bessines site.

This international certification shows compliance with the most stringent environmental standards.

The results of measures carried out within the environment are retained by DDASS (Direction Départementales des Affaires Sanitaires et Sociales) and DRIRE (Direction Régionale de l'Industrie, de la Recherche et de l'Environnement).

Local involvement

In December 2005, AREVA transferred the urban part of the site (around 115 hectares) to the Community of Lodévois Towns in return for a symbolic fee (1 euro).

To assist with completion of the technology park project the community wished to establish there, AREVA contributed 1.3 million euros to the project and provided the services of its subsidiary specializing in the reindustrialization of closed sites.

The site has also benefited from:

  • the Lodève region's economic development plan,
  • reclamation of the Lodève site and reclassification of workers.

Visits are organized. To find out more, contact the site.

Contact

Site de l'Hérault
Route de Soumont
34700 Saint Martin du Bosc France
Tel.: +33 (0)4 99 91 00 96
Tel.: +33 (0)4 67 88 65 01