Jean-Luc Ginder, municipal councilor of Bollwiller (Haut-Rhin) launched a petition on Sunday July 28, 2024 against the search for lithium in Haut-Rhin.
He contests the two permits granted at the beginning of July 2024 by the State to the company Vulcan Energie France. These permits authorize the company to search for lithium and geothermal deposits in an area of 463 km2 around Mulhouse.
“No to the search for lithium in Haut-Rhin”, is the title of a petition posted online on Sunday July 28 by Jean-Luc Ginder, municipal councilor of Bollwiller and economist.
“I call for help, for democratic aid: No to the search for lithium in Haut-Rhin”, I am launching a petition after the green light given by the State. I appeal to all French people.”
Jean-Luc Ginder protests against the two exclusive exploration permits granted to the company Vulcan Energie France by the Ministry of the Economy.
I am contesting the two permits granted in early July 2024 by the State to the company Vulcan Energie France. These permits authorize the company to explore for lithium and geothermal deposits in an area of 463 km2 around Mulhouse.
By two decrees dated July 2 and 12, 2024, this French subsidiary of an Australian company obtained the government’s green light for prospecting for lithium and geothermal deposits in Haut-Rhin. A French first for this company that already operates in Germany, notably in Landau in the Palatinate where a lithium production plant is on track.
In Haut-Rhin, it will be able to prospect over an area of 463 km2 around Mulhouse. Forty-two municipalities are concerned: Baldersheim, Bantzenheim, Battenheim, Blodelsheim, Bollwiller, Brunstatt-Didenheim, Chalampé, Ensisheim, Feldkirch, Fessenheim, Habsheim, Heimsbrunn, Hirtzfelden, Hombourg, Illzach, Kingersheim, Lutterbach, Merxheim, Meyenheim, Morschwiller-le-Bas, Mulhouse, Munchhouse, Niffer, Ottmarsheim, Landau, Pfastatt, Pulversheim, Raedersheim, Réguisheim, Reiningue, Richwiller, Riedisheim, Rixheim, Roggenhouse, Ruelisheim, Rumersheim-le-Haut, Sausheim, Staffelfelden, Ungersheim, Wittelsheim, Wittenheim and Zimmersheim.
According to the elected official, There are too many unknowns
As required by the regulations, the municipalities concerned had been consulted in 2023. With the exception of Hombourg and Ensisheim, all had issued an unfavorable opinion on the project. This is precisely what outrages the elected official from Haut-Rhin: “we consult you, you say no but we do it anyway, it’s like 49-3, it’s an insult to democracy!”
In this case, Vulcan Energie France is associated with the car manufacturer Stellantis (ex-PSA). The idea is to install a geothermal power plant on the site of the Peugeot factory in Sausheim by 2026. The agreement provides for supplying the manufacturer with renewable energy but also with lithium, an ore essential for the production of electric vehicle batteries.
On paper, the project is promising but “there are too many unknowns, believes Jean-Luc Gringer, we need more precise analyses, we have to wait because the consequences could be very serious, we fear for our water table and then in Bollwiller, we already have experience of the problems generated by potash mines”. Furious at the “passivity” of his colleagues in the face of this new affront from the State, the elected representative of Bollwiller has therefore chosen to launch a petition.
The mayor of Brunstatt-Didenheim, Antoine Viola, pleads for concerted action. “All the mayors concerned are very skeptical, even the city of Basel in Switzerland has just withdrawn from a geothermal project”. The councillor goes even further: “I don’t even want us to look to see if there is lithium in the Haut-Rhin because if we find any, it’s over, we will become a territory of national interest and then there will be no one left to protect us, it will be an environmental disaster, visual not to mention the seismic risks”. Antoine Viola relies on Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration (M2A) to set up a joint action against the decision of the Ministry of the Economy.
But the situation is thorny because the environmental and economic stakes are considerable. Fabien Jordan, the president of the M2A, also contests the government’s method. “It’s unacceptable, we set up a consultation committee and finally the decision was made from Paris in the greatest secrecy.”
Stellantis and Vulcan Energie France have signed a partnership to supply the Peugeot plant in Sausheim with renewable energy and lithium by 2026.
At the same time, he reiterates the interest of the territory in helping Stellantis. The manufacturer intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2038, with a 50% reduction in its CO2 emissions by 2030. “We support Stellantis in its decarbonization approach, it is positive for our territory” affirms Fabien Jordan. The agreement with Vulcan would also make it possible to secure the presence of the manufacturer in Haut-Rhin, which is still the largest private employer in Alsace.
There is therefore, according to the president, a compromise to be found, prospecting perimeters to be redefined to reconcile the interests of each. Fabien Jordan intends to bring together all the elected officials concerned before the end of August to establish an action strategy. One of the levers could be the legal challenge of the authorizations issued to Vulcan Energie France by the State. The decree having been published on July 11, 2024 in the official journal, elected officials have until September 11, 2024 to attack.
Jean-Luc Ginder, Municipal Councilor of Bollwiller in Haut Rhin, makes a personal appeal to all elected officials in France to request an assessment of the Lithium extraction process and for the time being to suspend any authorization for Lithium research in France and its extraction.
On June 24, 2024, an industrial disaster in a lithium battery factory in Seoul left at least 22 dead and a dozen injured. The fire, which broke out late in the morning in the city of Hwaseong, on a site operated by the company Aricell, a subsidiary of S-Connect, is said to have spread rapidly to all floors, trapping several dozen of the 102 workers present on site.
These batteries are designed to be used only once until exhausted before being thrown away. Unlike “secondary” batteries, they cannot be recharged once they are exhausted. In the form of disposable batteries, primary batteries power small electronic objects or smoke detectors.
The most powerful models, such as those produced by Aricell, equip military equipment, “smart” electricity meters or even pacemakers. Also containing lithium, they are delivered fully charged and present, according to specialists, a potential risk of explosion greater than that of rechargeable batteries.
The prospecting of lithium and geothermal deposits in Haut-Rhin, by Vulcan Energie France is associated with the car manufacturer Stellantis (ex-PSA) to install a geothermal power plant on the site of the Peugeot factory in Sausheim by 2026, for the production of electric vehicle batteries. “Could this become a disaster like in June in Seoul?”
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