On August 4th 2011, the Prefect of Sarthe published a decree which allows the extension of the pigsty at La Tuilerie near Joué en Charnie. The decision follows the opinion that the public enquiry investigator gave on May together with some minors restrictions about the spreading of liquid manure. Thus la Tuilerie is allowed to produce more than 3.000 pigs "animal-equivalent". The spreadings along the river Le Palais are allowed. Polluted waters will first reach the river la vègre, then la Sarthe and finally the estuary of la Loire. Recall that on August the 12th, the mayor of Saint Nazaire decided to forbid the access to beaches of the town due to the pollution resulting of a great amount of green algae.
Charnie Environnement did strongly work against this project; a petition on the internet site Cyberacteurs recieved more than 2.700 signatures. On another hand a petition launched in Loué obtained more than 600 signatures. Moreover, the Fédération départementale de la pêche and the Comité local were opposite to the project. All of this organisations did point out the danger of such a spreading plan. Our association did also mention that the pigsty did already exceed the previously allowed quotas of production. This confirms a well known fact, that is : once the autorisation is given, the administration never controls anything, leaving possible lots of violations.