Greening civil engineering for innovation in the restoration of ecosystems: the case of the rehabilitation of an oil pipeline leak

Abstract

On the 07th of August 2009, a pipeline leak occurred in the National Nature Reserve "Coussouls de Crau" in Southeastern France. It released 5 400m3 of crude oil and 8 ha of steppe type vegetation, especially rare in the European continent, was destroyed. The days following the accident revealed the lack of preparation of the conservationist land managers and ignorance of the operators concerning the heritage value of the habitat. At first, only the "industrial" nature of the accident was taken into account. Its impact on the natural heritage was only taken into account when a technical monitoring committee was created by the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture. Innovative protocols for the rehabilitation of the site have been developed in the technical group dedicated to biodiversity, including representatives of the environmental administration, conservationist managers, the operator, its consultants and scientific expert. It is the constant dialogue within the group, which has allowed the acceptance of innovations by the different stakeholders. This accident will thus allow the production of original ecological engineering operations that would not have been put in place without the existence of this dialogue, the financial supports and urgency of interventions to be undertaken.