Water contaminated with PFAS: 400 people to file complaints in Haut-Rhin

Far too high levels of eternal pollutants and drinking water prohibited for the most vulnerable. A complaint against unknown persons will be filed Monday, August 4, with the Mulhouse prosecutor by a group of 400 people to denounce the contamination of tap water by eternal pollutants in the Saint-Louis urban area (Haut-Rhin), their lawyer announced this Thursday, July 31.

"For two years, both Saint-Louis Agglomération and its private operator (Veolia) supplied contaminated water at particularly high levels which are considered the highest in France," explained André Chamy, lawyer for the residents' group.

In this urban area of 80,000 inhabitants, 60,000 people are affected by these supply problems. In its complaint, the collective denounces the presence of eternal pollutants (PFAS) which far exceed the authorized level of 0.1 micrograms per liter.

"Since at least April 2023, public analyses have revealed non-compliance of the water, particularly in Blotzheim, Saint-Louis, Hésingue, Bartenheim, etc., with levels up to 0.459 micrograms per liter," the complaint states. It is based on the charges of "deliberate endangerment of the lives of others," "distribution of a product harmful to health," "environmental offenses" and "violation of health regulations."

But it was not until April 25, 2025, that the Haut-Rhin prefecture announced a ban on tap water consumption for sensitive people in 11 municipalities, all located near the Franco-Swiss Basel-Mulhouse airport.

According to the prefecture, the presence of PFAS in drinking water was detected at the end of 2023, and the population was informed, by letter, in January 2024, "without any restrictions being decided at this stage, pending advice from national scientific experts" .

This persistent pollution "is linked to the past use of firefighting foams containing PFAS at the airport ," state services assure. André Chamy refutes this argument: "These foams have not been used for nine years at Basel-Mulhouse airport and I don't see why these contamination problems are not also present at Orly or Roissy." The group is also demanding reimbursement of water supply bills.