19 October 2023

Séché Environnement unveils France's largest site dedicated to environmental emergencies

Séché Urgences Interventions La-Guerche-de-Bretagne Environmental emergencies and risk prevention Emergency interventions and safeguarding Industrial accident assistance

Séché Environnement has introduced an additional space of nearly 3,000 m² on the site of its subsidiary Séché Urgences Interventions (SUI), located in La Guerche-de-Bretagne (Ille-et-Vilaine). This new, energy-positive building with a low carbon footprint makes it possible to grow the Group's operations in France to counter every type of environmental risk.

Ships in jeopardy, train or car accidents, industrial fires, explosions—all of these incidents can constitute major threats to the environment and require specialized measures that can be launched at a moment’s notice to protect the ecosystem from the risk of pollution.

In La Guerche-de-Bretagne, the headquarters of Séché Urgences Interventions triples in size

A central area for managing for all the company’s emergency operations performed by eight bases located all across France, the La Guerche-de-Bretagne site now boasts interior space approaching 4,000 m², up from its initial 800 m². This extension to the location’s low-carbon, bioclimatic architecture is fully covered by photovoltaic panels connected to the public electricity network, producing approximately 500 MwH per year.

Thanks to these new facilities, Séché Urgences Interventions will be able to bolster its material and human resources by a considerable margin, taking action seven days a week in every terrain to confront any incident or type of substance in under four hours within France, and with impressive reaction times the world over.

Séché Urgences Interventions, watching over the environment

Since their debut in 2014, Séché Urgences Interventions have helped secure and decontaminate the sites of accidents, managing the secure transport of hazardous waste and ensuring both traceability and perfect synergy with the Group’s waste treatment tools. The organization boasts thirty experts on permanent contracts and 230 reserve technicians and chemists throughout the Group that can be called in as needed. With continuous training to help them master the technical processes and resources alike, this group of experts are all trained in emergency management and offers a range of expertise in handling chemical, biological, pyrotechnic and radiological risks.

With a yearly average surpassing 100 operations, Séché Urgences Interventions has participated in the decontamination of major sites and incidents, including:

March-April 2019: management of the Grande America oil spill.
August-September 2019: lead decontamination in the crypt of Notre Dame and in the schools located on Île de la Cité following the fire at the cathedral.
September 2019: intervention following the Lubrizol incident in Rouen (recovery of damaged containers of chemical products and hydrocarbons leaked into the Seine basin).
June 2021: pumping operations at the site of the derailment of a train transporting phosphoric acid in the Ardennes region.
October 2023: sample taking and removal of waste following the apartment fire in Rouen giving rise to asbestos contamination risks