| On September 21, 2001, a deadly blaze raged at the Grande Paroisse AZF factory, a subsidiary of the Total-Fina-Elf group, in a southern district of Toulouse. It killed thirty people and wounded more than 3,000. The effects of this nitrate explosion were felt all over the city, to a distance of several miles (or kilometers), and ten times farther than the so-called security zones. The disaster reignited the debate in the risks attached to industrial installations in urban areas. The precautionary principle clearly had an application in this instance. Both government and industry now give priority to reducing risks at their source, rethinking urban planning and land use, and also keeping citizens informed. On March 7, 2003, the French Chamber of Deputies adopted a draft law on technological and natural risks. One of its main points was the adoption of plans to prevent technological risk by limiting urban development near France’s 672 high-risk establishments.
Visit the YAB Gallery for books and signed prints |
.&title2=AZF factory chimney after an explosion, Toulouse, France (43°36’N, 1°27’E).&title3= Chimenea de la fÁbrica AZF después de la explosión, Toulouse, Francia (43°36’ N-1°27’ E). "download in wallpaper")
Add the gadget "Earth from above" to your iGoogle page and learn every day a new photo