Écologiser le génie civil pour innover dans la restauration des écosystèmes : le cas d'un chantier de réhabilitation d'une fuite d'hydrocarbures

Résumé Fr En

Résume La réserve naturelle des Coussouls-de-Crau, milieu steppique abritant des espèces uniques en Europe, mettra des centaines d'années pour se reconstituer après la rupture en 2009 d'une canalisation d’hydrocarbures sur le site. Cet article nous montre ici comment un dialogue permanent entre les différents acteurs a permis toutefois d'élaborer et de faire accepter des protocoles innovants de réhabilitation du site, dont la réalisation d’opérations d’ingénierie écologique originales qui n’auraient pas été mises en place sans l'existence de ce dialogue, les moyens financiers et l’urgence des interventions à mener.

On the 07 August 2009, a pipeline leak occurred in the National Nature Reserve “Coussouls de Crau” in Southeastern France. It released 5 400m3 of crude oil and, 8 ha of steppe vegetation especially rare in the European continent, were  destroyed. The days following the accident revealed the lack of preparation of the conservationist land managers and the ignorance of the operators concerning the heritage value of the habitat. At first, only the "industrial" nature of the accident was taken into account. Its impact on the natural heritage was integrated only when a technical monitoring committee was created by the prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône. In the technical group dedicated to biodiversity, including representatives of the environmental administration, conservationist managers, the operator, its consultants and scientific experts, innovative protocols for the rehabilitation of the site have been developed. Constant dialogue within the group allowed the acceptance of innovations by the different stakeholders. This accident will thus allow the production of original ecological engineering operations that would hnot been put in place without this dialogue, financial aids, and under the constraint of urgency.