Fresh complaints fired at Paris metro operator over pollution 'failures'

Paris’s transport authority is being sued for endangerment, unintentional injury and deceit by a workers’ union and group of 20 citizens who filed two fresh complaints Wednesday over air pollution on the Paris metro.

Paris metro operator RATP denies concealing information on dangerous pollution levels from passengers and transport staff. © Zeenat Hansrod

The SAT-RATP union and the environmental NGO Respire (Breathe) are hoping the public prosecutor will open a judicial investigation over “failures” by metro operator RATP to provide proper information on alarming levels of particle pollution.

The complaints follow on from a lawsuit in March, also filed by Respire, which accused the RATP of downplaying pollution risks for public transport users, who it says are unwittingly exposing themselves to dangerous compounds. 

Respire cited its own study, carried out in January, showing pollution levels were up to 10 times the recommended limit at Alexandre Dumas station, and six times the limit at the Trocadero and Place d'Italie stations.

This latest legal action presents additional scientific data – in particular the results of a Chinese study carried out in the city of Suzhou, which has a population of 10 million people.

"This study attributes 375 deaths per year to pollution on the metro, where conditions are relatively similar to those of Paris," Respire said.

Pollution dans le métro parisien : des usagers attaquent la RATP en justice https://t.co/Y9ANPMLQIt pic.twitter.com/VGT4PcTJkB

— L'Obs (@lobs) May 26, 2021

'Desire to conceal'

The NGO accuses RATP of a “blatant lack of transparency” and “even a desire to conceal ... critical levels of pollution" through its refusal to provide passengers with data showing the true risks.

Meanwhile the SAT-RATP union said the state-run company had “known for 40 years” that air pollution levels were putting transport workers at risk. 

"The RATP has been exposing its employees to abnormally high levels of air pollution for many years and with full knowledge of the facts," the union said, adding that "chronic pathologies” and “excess mortality” caused by the pollution were also well known to the company.

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SAT-RATP cited a series of studies and warnings, dating back to 2001, that it says were not communicated to staff. They were from bodies including the French Higher Council for Public Health, the National Food Agency and the RATP's own Occupational Health Department.

However the RATP has denied all accusations, saying its studies have never concluded that air quality in underground metro spaces negatively impacted public health. 

It’s preparing to present the results of a new study to support its case.