via:sansnom

Nord-Isère, An electric line sabotaged: the Hexcel chemical factory stopped

“For Serge, stop industry”. This is the tag sprayed with black paint on an electrical cabinet, at the foot of a pylon supporting a 225,000 volt power line, damaged by a fire early this Friday in Sablons. With this “signature”, referring to Serge, this demonstrator seriously injured in the head during the outbursts of the demonstration against the mega-basin in Sainte-Soline, the criminal nature of this act is not in doubt.

It was 4:44 am when the firemen were informed of a fire. A fire had just damaged this high-voltage line supplying the Hexcel factory in Salaise-sur-Sanne, a company specializing in carbon fiber [Note of Sans Nom: it manufactures, among other things, the wings for the Airbus A350]. Immediately, the site was frozen before the arrival of gendarmes from the Vienne research brigade and criminal identification technicians from Grenoble. An investigation was opened for “deliberate destruction by arson”.
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Roussillon: sabotage of a high voltage line supplying the company Hexcel, deprived of electricity

An electric cable of 225.000 volts was set on fire early this Friday, May 19 in Sablons, in Isère. The manager of the electric network RTE gave the alert around 3:30 am, after an alarm was triggered. The origin of the power cut was then detected an hour later, around 4:30 am.

Hexcel is the only company on the Roussillon chemical plant without power. The 16 other companies are not affected. There is no impact on the power supply of the private individuals either, according to the firemen on the spot. The fire was set, it seems, deliberately, at the foot of the pylon, according to the first notes of the investigation. The gendarmes of the Research Brigade of Vienne have been seized of the investigation. They are on the spot for the first observations.

The Vienne Public Prosecutor’s Office confirms that a tag was found not far from the line, which reads: “For Serge. Stop industry.” Serge refers to this activist seriously injured during the demonstration against the basins in Sainte Soline, last March, in the Deux-Sèvres.

This act of sabotage on a high-voltage cable is reminiscent of the fire of criminal origin that affected the cables under the Brignoud bridge a little over a year ago.

In the factory, the situation is serious. An employee told us that it had only been a week since the plant had restarted because since January, due to the rising cost of energy, the 160 employees had been put on short-time work. “It’s a big blow,” he concludes. The generators have taken over to ensure the safety of the chemicals, as Hexcel is classified as a high threshold Seveso site.

Carbon fiber for aeronautics

Hexcel, which belongs to an American group, had been inaugurated in 2018 in Roussillon, for an investment of 200 million euros. The plant manufactures carbon fiber for the aerospace industry. Its customers are Airbus and Safran.

Currently, the management of Hexcel and RTE are in a meeting to try to solve the problem. A high-voltage line was installed especially for Hexcel when it was set up, because the plant consumes a lot of electricity and this should not impact the other companies at the chemical platform.

Translated by Act for freedom now!