GSM has had permission to operate an open-air quarry in south-west France withdrawn due to an impact study’s perceived failure to sufficiently consider animals of protected status.
The cement company and the state must each pay €1,000 to the town of Lahontan, near to where the 26-hectare quarry is based, following the decision by the Bordeaux administrative appeals court to annul GSM’s operating approval granted in 2008.
Lahontan Mayor Christian Chauveau said he was pleased with the decision, and claimed that neither the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department nor the Chamber for Agriculture consulted town authorities before issuing the quarry approval. Lahontan will be able to resume its local urban planning project as a result of the decision.
GSM could appeal the decision with the Council of State, but any impact study would need to be started again from square one.
